Michigan judge dismisses GOP lawsuit targeting overseas and military ballots

A lawsuit filed by the Republican Party seeking to tighten qualifications for Americans living overseas to cast ballots in Michigan has been tossed out.

In an opinion and order released Monday, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel rejected arguments from the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party and Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry that the state’s policy which permits a small group of Americans to register to vote in Michigan despite having never lived in the state, violated the state constitution.

“Consistent with federal law, the Michigan Legislature made a policy choice to allow a small pool of individuals who accompany family members abroad to qualify as Michigan residents for the purpose of voting in Michigan because they are connected to Michigan through their spouse, parent, or someone serving a parental role,” wrote Patel. “Because the [Michigan State Election Officials] Manual language comports with the Michigan Constitution and statutes, there is no ground to invalidate it. Accordingly, the Court denies plaintiffs’ motion for summary disposition and grants defendants’ motion.”

At issue is a state policy which allows the spouses and defendants of former Michigan residents living outside the United States to register at their relative’s former Michigan address as long as they are American citizens and are not registered anywhere else in the country. 

Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who was named in the lawsuit, filed Oct. 8, along with Michigan Director of Elections Jonathan Brater, said the ruling was an “important victory” for military and overseas citizen voters. 

“This baseless lawsuit targeted the voting rights of U.S. citizens and their families living abroad, including the children of active-duty military service members. It represents a new low in the ongoing PR campaign to cast doubt on the security of Michigan’s elections. The judge rightly refused to allow this last-minute attempt to cause chaos,” said Benson. “Michigan’s General Election is already underway.

More than one million citizens have already submitted an absentee ballot or cast their ballot at an early voting site so far. Frivolous lawsuits like these, filed just weeks before Election Day, make it harder for the state’s election officials to do their jobs and threaten to interfere with our secure and accurate process.”

In her ruling, Patel acknowledged the request’s timing was impractical by the fact that voting had already commenced.

“Defendants are busy with myriad tasks in the final days leading up to a general election in a presidential election year. Plaintiffs’ request would require defendants to create an entirely new process to cull those returned AVBs issued to members of the subject group who have never resided in Michigan and remove them before tabulation. It is hard to imagine a more prejudicial situation arising from plaintiffs’ delay,” wrote the judge.

Patel, however, denied a motion by the defendants seeking sanctions for what they termed a “frivolous” lawsuit.  

“Plaintiffs’ complaint was not devoid of arguable legal merit,” concluded Judge Patel. “They raised a constitutional challenge to the language selected by defendants to explain the statutory qualifications of electors. This was an issue of great public importance. Moreover, a claim is not frivolous simply because it fails.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office filed the motion to dismiss, said the lawsuit was “baseless” and a clear attempt to disenfranchise Michigan’s military and overseas voters.

“I am glad the Court saw through this meritless effort to suppress votes and undermine the integrity of our election system,” said Nessel, a Democrat. “American citizens, especially those defending our country and their families, have every right to cast a ballot and participate in our electoral process.”

The lawsuit is among several filed by the Republican Party challenging military and overseas voting, targeting battleground states like Michigan, including Pennsylvania and North Carolina. They followed complaints aired by former President Donald Trump, who alleged without evidence that Democrats were “getting ready to CHEAT!” by using the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) to email ballots overseas.

However, as David Becker, the founder and executive director of The Center for Election Innovation and Research, told the Associated Press, the process is well established and until now, had been free from controversy.

“In over 25 years of working in elections, in both Republican and Democratic administrations, and with election officials of both parties, I don’t recall any of them, or any elected leader from either party, ever denigrating this important program, until Trump’s false claims,” said Becker.

In the Oct. 14 request for summary disposition, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office said nearly 17,000 ballots for the Nov. 5 election had already been sent to Michigan voters overseas.

This story was originally published by the Michigan Advance