RNC files election integrity suit against Michigan secretary of state

The Republican National Committee on Thursday filed an election integrity lawsuit against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, alleging that she had worked to covertly undercut the state's absentee voting safeguards.

At issue is a memorandum Benson sent to election officials ahead of the state's presidential primary encouraging them to apply a "presumption of validity" to signatures on absentee ballot requests, which the RNC contends violates the state constitution's signature matching requirement.

"This new rule, however, is directly inconsistent with the plain language of the Michigan Constitution and the Michigan Election Law," the suit stated. It further highlighted a rule Benson promulgated that grants election officials broad leeway to account for discrepancies in signatures on return envelopes with signatures on file, which the RNC described as permitting verification based on "mere speculation."

"Michigan’s State Constitution is very clear: election officials have to verify the identity of voters casting absentee ballots," said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley in a statement. "Jocelyn Benson is yet again working to undermine election integrity by secretly instructing officials to disregard and circumvent these clear requirements. The RNC is suing Benson because Michiganders deserve election integrity, not underhanded Democrat schemes."

The suit seeks a declaration invalidating both the signature verification instructions and the administrative rule, as well as an order that she retract her signature instructions.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.