Politics

Lawsuit alleges Michigan Secretary of State left 25,000 dead voters on voter rolls in recent elections

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The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Secretary of Sate Jocelyn Benson on Wednesday and alleges she failed to remove over 25,000 potentially deceased registrants on the voter rolls even after being notified of the issue on several occasions. 

The law firm first reportedly notified Benson about the potentially deceased voters in September 2020 after reviewing state records. The lawsuit also claims the law firm had been denied a records request by the Secretary of State’s office (Breit Bart). 

Additionally, after the refusal to change or comply, the firm had to repurchase voter data reports several times over a year’s span to make sure the investigation was up to date. 

As of August 2021, more than 25,975 deceased registrants were on Michigan’s voter rolls. Of this number nearly 4,000 of those registrants had been dead for at least 20 years. 

This lawsuit states Michigan is in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. This states that officials are to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters.”

The law firm is asking the court to declare the Secretary of State in violation of Section 8 of the National Voter Act (NRVA) to do an immediate and thorough investigation of deceased registrants uncovered by the firm to be removed. They also ask the court to order Benson to allow an inspection of records on how they come to an official list of voters to protect against malpractice in the future. 

ARTICLE: MAUREEN MCGAURAN

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE

PHOTO CREDITS: NEWS.JRN.MSU.EDU

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