WASHINGTON -- Following the news that the Republican National Committee (RNC) filed an election integrity lawsuit against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley released the following statement.
“Election integrity starts with clean voter rolls, and that’s why the National Voter Registration Act requires state officials to keep their rolls accurate and up-to-date. Jocelyn Benson has failed to follow the NVRA, leaving Michigan with inflated and inaccurate voter rolls ahead of the 2024 election. The RNC is filing this key lawsuit because Michigan voters deserve clean voter rolls and confidence in their elections.”
Background:
- The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requires states to maintain an accurate and current voter registration roll for elections for federal office.
- Our analysis found that 76 of Michigan’s 83 counties – 91.5% of counties – have inflated voter rolls that demonstrate a lack of compliance with the NVRA.
- 53 counties have more active registered voters than adult citizens over the age of 18.
- 23 counties that have active voter registration rates that meet or exceed 90 percent of adult citizens over the age of 18, a figure that far eclipses the voter registration rate nationwide in recent elections.
- This evidence shows that Michigan is not properly maintaining its voter registration lists as required by federal law.
- By failing to conduct list maintenance in accordance with federal law, Benson is imperiling election integrity in the 2024 elections and sending a clear message to Michigan voters that she does not care about clean and accurate voter rolls.
- In December 2023, the RNC sent a demand letter to Benson outlining these discrepancies and threatening litigation if said discrepancies were not remedied. Now, we are following through on our promise to litigate by filing this suit.
- This marks the 79th case of election integrity litigation that the RNC has engaged on this cycle alone.
- Read the full complaint HERE.
