Report on Antrim County error keeps battle over records going in lingering election lawsuit

William Bailey of Central Lake Township is again accusing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of is withholding records she’s been ordered to turn over as part of an ongoing election fraud lawsuit in Antrim County.

This has become a theme in the lawsuit filed by Bailey in November alleging election fraud in Antrim County and potentially across the state.

Both sides say the other isn’t providing information or access to witnesses for depositions. Bailey’s attorney, Matthew S. DePerno, claims he can’t prepare witnesses for deposition until he has all of the election information from Benson’s office.

Attorneys for Benson have said they’ve provided nearly everything requested, but DePerno now alleges a report Benson’s office publicly released on March 26 proves that’s not true.

In a Friday court filing that asks Antrim County Circuit Judge Kevin Elsenheimer to extend the discovery window, DePerno said the 54-page report in question “clearly relies on information previously requested” but not yet disclosed.

Bailey’s lawsuit focuses largely on Dominion Voting Systems tabulation machines and software that initially reported incorrect unofficial elections results in Antrim County, indicating former President Donald Trump lost the Republican-leaning county.

It was later determined by county and state officials that the mistakes were caused by human error, rather than any intentional software deficiencies or fraud as the lawsuit alludes.

The report produced by J. Alex Halderman, a computer security and systems specialist and professor at the University of Michigan, entitled “Analysis of the Antrim County, Michigan November 2020 Election Incident”, takes a deeper look at the cited reasons for the errors.

“The explanations provided by the county [and the Department of State are correct that the inaccurate unofficial results were a consequence of human errors, but the problems were somewhat more complicated than initially understood,” Halderman wrote. “The human errors that initiated the incident were compounded by gaps in election procedures and their adherence.

“The election software also could have done more to help election staff avoid making mistakes that could…