WASHINGTON - The RNC and Michigan GOP (MIGOP) sued Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for failing to require proper verification of absentee ballots.

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley stated: “Recent guidance issued by the Michigan Secretary of State will undermine protections for absentee voters, leading to improper handling and counting of absentee ballots. We are suing to protect absentee ballot safeguards in Michigan which will help make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in the Wolverine State.”

Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra stated: "Our Secretary of State is actively interfering in Michigan's elections, disregarding the very laws she's supposed to enforce. The Michigan Republican Party will never stop fighting for the safety and security of our elections, so every single Michigander can feel confident in their vote, no matter how they choose to exercise that right."

Background:

• Michigan law requires that clerks mark absentee ballot envelopes with the date the ballot was received, verify the voter’s signature (and thus their identity), and provide a statement on the envelope that the signature was verified and the ballot is approved for tabulation.
• If either the date or the approval statement is missing, Michigan law requires that the ballot not be tabulated.
• During this year’s statewide primary, the RNC Election Integrity team discovered that many ballots were approved for tabulation without the required statement that the signature was verified.
• This is a direct result of Secretary Benson’s guidance to election officials, which omits the requirement that clerks mark ballots with a statement that the signatures have been verified.
• These are basic absentee voter safeguards that Secretary Benson continues to undermine, and we have filed suit to require compliance with election laws.

Read the filing HERE.