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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel asks the public to stop harassing her staff following faulty claims that ballots filled out in Sharpie pens would not be counted in the state.
"Dear members of the public: Please stop making harassing and threatening calls to my staff, tweeted Nessel on Thursday. "They are kind, hardworking public servants just doing their job."
Nessel continued: "Asking them to shove Sharpies in uncomfortable places is never appropriate and is a sad commentary on the state of our nation."
Republican voters in Arizona first claimed that poll workers instructed them to use Sharpies to fill in their ballots, causing them to not be read by voting machines. The claims then soon spread to Michigan.
Videos then emerged on social media following the claims Tuesday night into Wednesday morning from people who said their ballots were rejected due to the Sharpie marks. The conspiracy was dubbed "Sharpiegate".
Facebook's fact-checkers have since marked social media videos and claims about the Sharpie allegations as "false information," according to Reuters. The social media giant has also blocked the hashtag "#sharpiegate."
Election officials have since said the name brand pens were widely used and did count the ballots marked with Sharpie.
The Michigan Department of State tweeted on Thursday to clarify that Sharpie will not invalidate or cancel a ballot.
"The use of a Sharpie to mark a ballot will not invalidate or cancel a ballot or vote," the tweet said.
The state department continued to note that the Sharpie will also not alter or cancel any vote on the other side of the ballot.
"If the marker does bleed through to the other side, ballots are designed so that the bleed-through does not touch or come near a voting area on the other side of the ballot," the tweet continued. "It will not alter or cancel any vote on the opposite side."
The state department even recommends the use of Sharpies on ballots since the ink dries fast and will not leave residue on their scanners.
"The Sharpie is the recommended marking instrument by the tabulator manufacturer and is preferable to an ink pen because it dries quickly and will not leave residue on the ballot scanner," said the state department's tweet.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden won Michigan on Wednesday. According to the Associated Press, of the 99 percent of votes reported, Biden won 2,791,529 votes, while Trump trailed with 2,646,392. The key swing state marks a win for the Democratic party since it previously voted red in 2016.
