Detroit poll worker Jessy Jacob appeared before the Michigan House Oversight Committee on Dec-2, 2020<\/p>\n
Detroit local Jessy Jacob was on the verge of tears on Wednesday as she testified during a Lansing, Michigan<\/a>, hearing about the intimidation and harassment she experienced while working as a ballot processor for Wayne County in the November election.<\/p>\n \u201cThey treated me like a criminal, humiliated me, harassed me,\u201d Jacob said in her witness statement as she appeared alongside Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. \u201cIt was so bad.\u201d<\/p>\n The public hearing was convened by the state\u2019s Senate Oversight Committee after the state\u2019s Board of Canvassers, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, \u201cunanimously asked this legislature to look into issues that have arisen in this election and to hear public testimony,\u201d committee chair Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan) told those gathered at the proceedings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are fulfilling the board\u2019s request by holding this hearing,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a responsibility as legislators to ensure trust in voting results.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacobs, a Detroit resident of 34 years, told the room that she had been marginalized by election officials on the morning of Nov. 4 because she refused to backdate absentee ballots, which according to state law, had to have been received by Nov. 3 at 9 p.m. to be counted.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t do anything, because when I am entering the ballot, I couldn\u2019t lie about the date,\u201d a distraught Jacobs said, after explaining that she had been told to enter ballots as received on Nov. 2 so that they could be counted.<\/p>\n She said she learned from another election worker that staff had been processing ballots all night, as fast as they could, at Detroit\u2019s downtown convention hall, the TCF center, where much of the concerns over how absentee ballots were counted have been raised.<\/p>\n \u201cSo basically, what they were doing is entering all these ballots into the QVF (qualified voter file) so they can count these ballots\u2014that\u2019s what I thought.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they were not following the procedure,\u201d Jacobs said, the most concerning of which was the opened ballot envelopes, with some having no postage stamp and a signature that didn\u2019t match.<\/p>\n She told the hearing that according to the state manual for ballot processors, ballots once opened were to be immediately received and checked off against the polling book if verified by a signature match to accurately record the date received.<\/p>\n Then, there was the problem with the ballots. When she started processing her first ballot, she immediately noticed the ballot was invalid\u2014it had been issued on Nov. 3 after the deadline for absentee ballot issuance, which was 4 p.m. on Nov. 2.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it was issued on Nov. 3, Election Day. It was issued, received, everything on Nov. 3. Then I checked whether that voter is newly registered. No, he was not registered on Nov. 3. He was registered sometime in 2010\u2014ten years ago,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cYou are not supposed to issue absentee ballots on Election Day to already registered voters.\u201d<\/p>\n She said she raised the problems with election officials in charge, and soon realized that no one else at the facility was following the process required to ensure only legal ballots were accepted.<\/p>\n She was then told by Chris Thomas, who was\u00a0a contractor for the Detroit City Clerk\u2019s Office and overseeing operations, \u201cShe\u2019s right, but why should we punish voters for processor\u2019s mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n Later, she was told by a representative from the Michigan Department of State\u2019s Bureau of Elections, \u201cI don\u2019t need you here, I don\u2019t need any of your help, get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n Jessy Jacob, the City of Detroit\u2019s Head Engineer, gives testimony at #MichiganHearing<\/a>, says poll workers were processing OPENED ballots after Nov. 3 and backdating them, even when signatures did not match @news_ntd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/83aCns1Q9D<\/a><\/p>\n — Melanie Sun (@MelanieYSun) December 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n