(WWJ) As part of her sentence, Kathy Funk must apologize to the voters of Flint Township.
The Michigan Attorney General's Office announced Tuesday that Funk, the former Flint Township Clerk, was sentenced in Genesee County Circuit Court for tampering with a ballot box during the August 2020 primary elections.
Funk, a Democrat, was sentenced to 2 years probation, 6 months of house arrest and tether compliance after pleading no contest to one count of Misconduct in Office.
The AG said Funk, 59, purposely broke a seal on a ballot container so that the votes inside, under Michigan Election Law, could not be counted in an anticipated recount.
While Funk later claimed that the ballot container was damaged during a break-in, investigators found that there was no break-in, and the story had been fabricated, the AG said.
According to a report by the Davison Index, Funk later told the township supervisor another story: that a shelf must have fallen on a bag of ballots, causing the seal to break.
Funk, Flint resident, was running for re-election at the time, and narrowly prevailed in the unofficial count.
“The integrity of election officials is crucial to the survival of our democracy,” said Nessel, in a statement. “We remain committed to prosecuting offenses against free and fair elections regardless of the offender's political party. Any attack against our elections, from the local level and beyond, is an affront to our core American values.”
In 2021, Funk left her position with Flint Township to become the Genesee County elections supervisor, a role she no longer holds.
As a term of her probation, Nessel's office said Funk must issue a written letter of apology to the voters of Flint Township.
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