Federal judge dismisses GOP lawsuit over Michigan voter rolls

• RNC lawyers failed to show Michigan is violating federal law in its voter roll maintenance efforts, a federal judge ruled Tuesday
• The lawsuit was one of a half-dozen filed by the RNC against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as part of a GOP “election integrity” program
• Judge Jane Beckering also wrote Republican plaintiffs didn’t have legal standing to sue due to “a mere ‘fear’ of unlawful voting”

LANSING — A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a Republican lawsuit challenging Michigan’s voter rolls, ruling the Republican plaintiffs failed to provide evidence the state was violating federal law and lacked legal standing to sue.

The suit from the Republican National Committee and other GOP groups alleged Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was failing to maintain voter registration lists as required under the National Voter Registration Act, or NVRA.

The complaint cited U.S. Census and state data indicating Michigan has more registered voters than voting-age adults. But the state says it is planning to cancel nearly 600,000 registrations as soon as federal law allows. 

Federal law requires Benson to make a "reasonable effort" to remove the names of ineligible voters, and the GOP lawsuit makes no "plausible" claim that she violated that statute, District Judge Jane Beckering wrote in an acerbic ruling.

“The quality of the pleading does not permit the Court to infer more than a mere possibility of misconduct,” Beckering concluded, saying the GOP complaint “alleged—but it has not shown—that they are entitled to relief.”

The RNC had argued Michigan’s alleged failure to maintain its voter rolls “harms the electoral process, heightens the risk of electoral fraud, and undermines public confidence in elections.”

Related:

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• Dems push ‘Michigan Voting Rights Act.’ Election clerks have concerns

While the GOP suit raised the specter, the state and independent experts say election fraud is extremely rare. 

“False and meritless claims — whether they are posted on social media or in legal filings — won’t stand up in court," Benson said in Tuesday evening statement. "That’s where evidence, the law, and facts rule the day."

The complaint was one in a litany of lawsuits brought by lawyers connected to the RNC in Michigan and other battleground states. It’s part of an effort to demonstrate to followers of former President Donald Trump that voting is still worthwhile despite his repeated claims the 2020 election was “rigged.”

One GOP lawsuit successfully struck down Benson’s absentee ballot signature match guidance, but most have been rejected, such as an attempt to block votes from eligible voters abroad whose parents last resided in Michigan. Two have ended in settlements with the state.

Beckering, the federal judge in the latest case, noted that the Republican lawyers had requested Benson be ordered to “ensure that ineligible registrants are not on the voter rolls.” But she noted that’s the inverse of what the law requires, which is that “any eligible applicant is registered to vote.”

Beckering had previously evaluated Michigan’s program for removing voters from its rolls due to a lawsuit brought by the Public Interest Legal Foundation in 2021. She ruled earlier this year that Michigan complied with federal requirements “reasonable” efforts to remove voters.

Michigan currently has about 8.4 million registered voters, which is nearly 500,000 more than the number of people in the state who are old enough to vote. 

But more than 350,000 voter registrations are slated for cancellation in 2025 unless those individuals take action to retain their status, according to state officials. In 2027 another 255,952 are slated for removal.

Beckering also ruled that Republican plaintiffs lacked legal standing to sue because, regardless of whether the state was properly maintaining voter rolls, the lawyers had failed to articulate how the RNC and two named voters were directly and specifically injured by voter roll maintenance.

She agreed with lawyers representing Benson that “a mere ‘fear’ of unlawful voting” is a “type of psychic injury” that doesn’t constitute legal standing.