Michigan voter files lawsuit claiming improper registration maintenance News
© WikiMedia (Tom Arthur)
Michigan voter files lawsuit claiming improper registration maintenance

A Michigan voter filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Michigan Secretary of State and 16 county clerks, asserting that state officials have not properly maintained the voter registration as required by law.

Tony Daunt, Executive Director of the conservative Michigan Freedom Fund, brought the lawsuit. The complaint alleges a violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

“NVRA requires States to maintain clean and accurate voter registration records. For at least 16 counties, Michigan has failed to live up to this requirement,” the complaint indicates.

Daunt specifies that these counties have a disproportionately high number of voter registrations given state and national averages, and in one county, the number of registered voters exceeds the number of eligible voters.

This is not the first time Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan Secretary of State, has been a focus of national media attention over voting issues. In May, US President Donald Trump alleged that Benson “illegally and without authorization” sent absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people.

Benson responded by stating that her actions were in step with other election officials around the country and she was “dumbfounded that this is controversial.”

A spokesperson for Benson responded to Tuesday’s lawsuit, declaring that, “the suit seeks to gain media attention using debunked claims and bad statistics to delegitimize our elections.” She further asserted that the claim relies on bad data and incorrectly equates active and inactive registrations.

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