Police investigate voting machine that disappeared after QAnon clerk was barred from working on election

Earlier this week, the Michigan Bureau of Elections stripped Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott of her authority to oversee elections, after she refused to allow a vendor to conduct routine maintenance on a voting machine.

Scott, a Republican, has shared QAnon memes on social media and spread misinformation about tabulators used in Hillsdale County.

Now, authorities have launched a criminal investigation after the voting tabulator in question suddenly went missing, according to a report from the news website Bridge Michigan.

"Hillsdale County Clerk Marney Kast, a fellow Republican who the state tasked with running the local election instead of Scott, told Bridge Michigan her office attempted to retrieve the Adams Township equipment earlier this week but was unable to locate the tablet, which she described as the 'brains' of the machine," Bridge Michigan reports.

"Kast said she and staff went to the Adams Township hall to secure the voting machine on Monday at the direction of Michigan Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater, who had written Scott that day instructing her to refrain from any election administration activity. County officials collected the tabulator case, but when they unlocked it the next day in their offices at the Hillsdale County Courthouse, 'the tablet was missing,'" Kast told Bridge.

Bridge Michigan reporter Jonathan Oosting later confirmed on Twitter that the State Police are investigating the disappearance of the voting tabulator at the request of the Secretary of State's Office.

According to Oosting's report, "Scott told Bridge on Tuesday that she was concerned about the accuracy of the tabulator and feared maintenance or servicing could wipe old data, echoing unfounded claims that voting machines may have been rigged against former President Donald Trump in 2020. She accused the state of 'tyranny' for stripping her election authority."

Read more here.