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From Neely Bardwell
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Local election 2024. While Republicans opened their convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Monday, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee in Michigan filed a lawsuit against the state’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and his Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, over the placement of ballot boxes.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court on July 15, alleges that Whitmer exceeded her authority when she issued a directive on Dec. 18 allowing several state and federal agencies to serve as voter registration authorities, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. “Under Michigan law, the authority to make such designations rests solely with the Legislature,” the lawsuit states.
In 2016, Michigan voted red for Trump, but switched back to blue in the 2020 election. In the 2016 election, Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 10,674 votes. President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 was more decisive, receiving 154,188 more votes than Trump.
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Michigan is now considered an important swing state for the November election. Recent polls show that Biden and Trump are virtually neck and neck when the margin of error is taken into account.
The Republican National Committee (RNC) claims that Whitmer’s move undermines the integrity of future elections, a situation that Republicans already view as a problem.
“The RNC and its members are concerned that Defendants’ failure to comply with Michigan state law to designate as a VRA undermines election integrity by increasing the opportunity for individuals to register to vote when they are not eligible to do so and by creating confusion about whether the agencies purporting to offer voter registration assistance are doing so in accordance with applicable law,” says the lawsuit, first reported by MLive.com.
Last month, in a statement outlining her executive directives, Whitmer said she acted within the framework of the Michigan Constitution in designating additional polling places. Specifically, she upheld Article 5, which “vests the executive power of the State of Michigan in the Governor.”
The chair of the House Elections Committee, Representative Penelope Tsenoglou (D-East Lansing), called the lawsuit “politically motivated” and a “blatant attempt to disenfranchise Michigan voters ahead of the upcoming election” in a statement.
“The Governor and Secretary of State’s actions to designate additional voter registration authorities are consistent with state and federal law, and as such, I am confident this attempt at voter suppression will not stand,” added Rep. Tsenoglou. “Free, fair, and accessible elections are the cornerstone of our republic, which is why making voter registration easier for everyone – certainly including our veterans – is critical to our democracy. I sincerely hope that every eligible Michigander will fulfill their civic duty by registering to vote and casting their ballot in the upcoming election.”
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About the author
Neely Bardwell (descendant of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indian) is a staff reporter at Native News Online. Bardwell is also a student at Michigan State University, where she is majoring in political science and minoring in Native American studies.
