Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is the target of a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee, which claimed she covertly tried to evade the state's absentee voting protections.
The Washington Examiner reported that the suit alleges Benson gave secret instructions to Michigan election officials and told them they must presume whether an absentee voter's signature is valid before the state's presidential primary in February.
The RNC lawsuit said Benson's actions are in violation of the state's constitution,
"Speculation, however, is incompatible with verification," the lawsuit said. "Requiring election officials to approve signatures with discrepancies based on mere speculation is completely inconsistent with the Michigan Constitution and the Michigan Election Law."
Michigan election officials are required, under the state's constitution, to verify absentee ballot voters' signatures by comparing them to the signatures on registration records. If they fail to match, election officials must notify the voters and provide them enough time to address the issue, according to the Examiner.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement: "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."
The RNC filed suit against Benson this month for alleged noncompliance with federal mandates regarding the upkeep of the state's "inflated and inaccurate" registry of voters.
In the lawsuit, the RNC claims that "76 of Michigan's 83 counties — 91.5% of counties — have inflated voter rolls that demonstrate a lack of compliance with the NVRA." The lawsuit states that 53 of Michigan's 83 counties have more active registered voters than residents over 18.