Michigan AG charges Saginaw politicians with election law forgery

BY JON KING, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

MICHIGAN—Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday that two people have been charged with multiple election law felonies.

Eric Eggleston, 53, a former candidate for Saginaw City Council, and current Saginaw City Council member Monique Lamar-Silvia, 64, both of Saginaw, were charged in connection to allegedly forged signatures on a nominating petition filed with the Saginaw City Clerk’s Office in an unsuccessful attempt to get Eggleston onto the November 2024 General Election ballot as a candidate for City Council. The offices are nonpartisan.

According to Nessel’s office, Lamar-Silvia on July 23, 2024, is alleged to have fraudulently signed the names of Saginaw voters to a petition form meant to secure Eggleston’s place on the ballot. Eggleston then allegedly signed the petition form, falsely certifying that he was the circulator, and submitted both forms to the clerk’s office shortly before the filing deadline that same day.

While Eggleston was not granted placement on the ballot, the matter was referred to the Attorney General by the Michigan Department of State following an investigation into a complaint of apparent election fraud made by the Saginaw City Clerk.

“Election laws and regulations ensure fairness and accountability in the electoral process,” said Nessel. “Dedicated and trustworthy clerks play a critical role in protecting local elections, as they demonstrated in this case by successfully identifying and disqualifying fraudulent signatures. While these safeguards worked as designed, my office takes election fraud allegations very seriously and will continue to investigate and prosecute violations.”

Eggleston is charged with:

• One count of conspiracy to do a legal act in an illegal manner, a five-year felony
• One count of election law forgery, a five-year felony
• One count of signing a nominating petition as a circulator when he was not the circulator, a 93-day misdemeanor.

Lamar-Silvia is charged with: 

• One count of conspiracy to do a legal act in an illegal manner, a five-year felony
• One count of election law forgery, a five-year felony
• One count of signing a nominating petition with multiple names, a five-year felony
• One count of signing a nominating petition with a name other than her own, a 93-day misdemeanor.

Both defendants are set for pre-exam conferences in Saginaw County District Court on Jan. 21.

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This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.