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The Republican National Committee (RNC) filed a lawsuit Thursday against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over the handling of absentee ballots.
The lawsuit alleges that Benson secretly tried to circumvent the state’s absentee voting safeguards, claiming that the party found that the secretary of state issued private instructions to local election officials ahead of the 2024 February primary election. Benson allegedly instructed the election officials in private that they must presume the validity of absentee voter’s signatures, the lawsuit shows. (RELATED: State Official Faces Lawsuit From GOP Over ‘Impossibly High’ Voter Registration)
“Michigan’s State Constitution is very clear: election officials have to verify the identity of voters casting absentee ballots. 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,” RNC co-chairman Michael Whatley said in a press release.
The RNC’s Thursday lawsuit is the second against Benson in the last month. The party sued Michigan’s Secretary of State on March 14, alleging that the state failed to abide by the National Voter Registration Act’s (NVRA) requirement that voter rolls must keep “clean and accurate voter registration records.”
Voters arrive to cast their ballots in the Michigan primary election at McDonald Elementary School on February 27, 2024 in Dearborn, Michigan. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The RNC alleged that its analysis found inflated voter rolls throughout Michigan. The lawsuit alleges that more than 90% of Michigan’s counties have “inflated voter rolls.” Of those counties, 53 allegedly have more active registered voters than adult citizens over the age of 18, the lawsuit shows.
“Let’s call this what it is: a PR campaign masquerading as a meritless lawsuit filled with baseless accusations that seek to diminish people’s faith in the security of our elections. Shame on anyone who abuses the legal process to sow seeds of doubt in our democracy,” Benson told the Daily Caller about the March 14 lawsuit.
The latest RNC lawsuit is a part of the party’s fight for election integrity. Despite the ongoing push, many battleground states still have some laws in place that Republicans have previously decried during the 2020 election, according to a recent Daily Caller analysis. In an effort to make changes to the standing state laws, the RNC is currently working hand in hand with NRCC and the NRSC on an expansive election integrity effort, the Daily Caller investigation revealed. (RELATED: ‘They Are Miles Ahead’: Despite ‘Election Integrity’ Hype, GOP Could Be Walking Into 2024 Legal Buzzsaw)
Benson did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.