The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 5-2 to allow local election clerks to continue using a poll challenger guidance manual during next week’s election in a legal victory for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
A pair of legislative candidates and national Republican parties challenged the state’s election rules that were put in place by the Michigan secretary of state’s office in May, and a lower court order blocked the rules from being used last month. The GOP-backed legal challenges targeted restrictions such as one rule that banned personal electronic devices among people working in absentee voter counting rooms.
The state high court’s suspension of a Court of Claims ruling by Judge Brock Swartzle, which tossed out some of the previous rules, will now remain in effect throughout the appeal periods and will likely keep the original May guidance in effect through Election Day.
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Justice Richard Bernstein, a Democratic appointee, contended there were “clearly significant legal issues at play” but noted the review the case requires is “unfortunately not feasible in the time left before Election Day.” He also said clerks would have to undergo new training that they already conducted under the May rules.
The ruling marked a blow to a complaint filed by a grassroots group against Benson on Wednesday, which wanted a contempt of court violation against Benson, claiming she “intends to violate” a judge’s order to change parts of an election manual just days before Election Day.
The motion accused her of refusing to comply with Swartzle’s order on Oct. 20 to change five sections of a 27-page manual about poll challenger guidance, which was initially published in May. The filing alleges Benson had been moving slowly on complying with the order in an effort to delay alterations before the Nov. 8 election.
“Defendants have been in contempt of the Court of Claims’ Opinions and Order since 10/10/22 by continuing to keep the May 2022 document on their website. It has now been thirteen days since the entry of the Opinion and Order. To Plaintiffs’ knowledge, Defendants have made no effort whatsoever to correct their guidance — as mandated by this Court’s injunctive order,” the plaintiffs’ attorney Ann Howard said in the motion.
Before the Supreme Court intervened, Patrick Colbeck, president of the MI Grassroots Alliance that supported the complaint, told the Washington Examiner he was worried Benson “intends to violate the law.”
“The only rational conclusion that could be made upon consideration of her failure to follow a court order that she follow the law is that she intends to violate the law during an election that features her as one of the candidates on the ballot,” Colbeck said.
Colbeck called the high court’s decision a “partisan ruling,” adding that “a transparent audit of the entire election record chain of custody is needed regardless of the outcome of the 2022 Election.”
Benson said in a statement she’s “grateful” for the Thursday afternoon decision. In 2020, she endured armed protesters outside of her home who were upset about her handling of the 2020 election results.
“In a time when we often see lawsuits filed not to enforce the law but instead to cause confusion & further partisan strategies, I’m grateful to the MI Supreme Ct for providing clarity that the challenger protocols used in past elections remain in effect for Tuesday’s election,” the Michigan secretary of state wrote in a tweet.
Benson also said at a press conference on Thursday that there will be 50 staffers across the state monitoring polling sites for disruption on Election Day, noting that she is anticipating disturbances at the Huntington Place Convention Center in Detroit during ballot-counting, but she noted local law enforcement are prepared to respond.
The Democratic Michigan secretary of state’s comments come as her Republican opponent, Kristina Karamo, alleged major voting corruption in Detroit and filed a 37-page lawsuit against City Clerk Janice Winfrey and the city’s board of election inspectors last month.
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“Unfortunately, the city of Detroit has been plagued with election corruption for years,” Karamo said.
Benson responded that her opponent is “seeking to have valid votes thrown out & thousands of voices nullified based on nothing but lies,” noting she would ensure “every valid vote is counted.”
