Lambert Junttila and former elections clerk arraigned for alleged breach of voter data

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Attorney Stefanie Lambert Junttila and former Adams Township. Clerk Stephanie Scott were arraigned on Monday in District Court 2B in Hillsdale County. 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against the pair on Wednesday, accusing Scott and Lambert Junttila of allowing an unauthorized computer examiner to access voter data concerning the 2020 election, including non-public information. 

Scott and Lambert Junttila each pleaded not guilty. Both were released on personal recognizance. 

According to the Department of Attorney General, Scott reportedly disregarded multiple instructions from the state director of elections to present the Adams Township tabulator to an authorized vendor for maintenance, withholding the voting machine until it was retrieved by the state police pursuant to a search warrant. The Department of Attorney General also alleges Lambert Juntilla illicitly transmitted data on the 2020 General Election from the Adams Township electronic poll book under Scott’s direction. 

In 2021, Scott, a Republican, was stripped of her election administration authority by the Michigan Bureau of Elections, and was ousted in a 2023 recall. She has filed to run for Hillsdale County clerk as a Republican in the upcoming Aug. 6 primary election. 

Lambert is also facing charges alongside former State Rep. Daire Rendon and Republican former attorney general nominee Matt DePerno as part of an investigation into potential tampering with voting machines following the 2020 election. 

Lambert’s trial in that case is scheduled for Oct. 21.

Lambert Junttila and Scott are both represented by attorney Dan Hartman, who served as counsel for the Michigan Republican Party under former Chair Kristina Karamo. 

In a text message to the Advance on Monday night, Hartman argued the charged actions in the case do not appear to be a violation of the law. 

“Here there are multiple charges related to two ‘acts.’ The first act is the illegal disclosure of information. The second is the denial of the Secretary of State access to township voting equipment before a court order. Neither of these are crimes, rather duties of an election clerk,” Hartman said.

Scott and Lambert Junttila are scheduled for a probable cause conference before Judge Megan Stiverson on May 22, to establish where there is probable cause to believe a crime was committed and the defendant was the person who committed the crime. 

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