WASHINGTON - The RNC and Michigan GOP (MIGOP) sued Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for failing to follow Michigan law, which requires ballot number matching on the ballot, poll book, and ballot return envelope to ensure ballots are cast and counted properly.

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley stated: “Secretary Benson continues to expose Michigan’s elections to cheating and fraud, forcing Republicans to file suit again to protect the vote for Michiganders. We will continue our efforts to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Michigan - and around the country - through November 5."

Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra stated: "Suing our Secretary of State to enforce the law she swore an oath to uphold is becoming commonplace in Michigan, because the Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee are committed to ensuring the integrity and security of our elections. Ballot number matching is a law on the books because it's a simple safeguard to protect Michiganders' fundamental right to vote. While Benson continues to circumvent our election laws for her own political agenda, we will fight tirelessly so Michiganders have no doubts when they start to go to the polls."

Background:

• Because RNC Election Integrity staff were on the ground observing Michigan’s tabulation centers during the primary, our legal team was notified that certain mail ballots were being counted with missing stub numbers and we immediately took action.
• This safeguard is critical to ensuring that the person returning the ballot was the person who was issued the ballot.
• Michigan ballot number matching is required to ensure accurate vote counts and confirm that an elector is casting the correct ballot.
• State law requires local clerks and election inspectors to reject absentee voter ballots where the stub is missing or the number on the stub does not match and offer the voter an opportunity to cure.
• Yet, the Michigan Secretary of State has issued illegal guidance, instructing local clerks and election inspectors to process and count these ballots anyways.
• This is one of Secretary Benson’s many offenses against the state’s election laws. Just recently, we sued the Secretary for failing to require proper verification of absentee ballots.
• We will keep fighting these legal battles to protect the people’s right to vote. Americans deserve a system where it is easy to vote and hard to cheat.

Read the filing HERE.