WASHINGTON, DC – This week, a federal district court in Michigan ruled that the National Voter Registration Act case brought by Michigan voter Tony Daunt can proceed to discovery. The court rejected multiple motions to dismiss that were filed by the state of Michigan and outside groups.
The case aims to correct potential problems with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s voter list maintenance program. Benson was alerted earlier this year to data showing old records were accumulating on the rolls. Since then, the evidence of inflated voter rolls has only mounted. In fact, Benson herself ordered a ballot application to be mailed to every registered voter in the primaries, only to have at least 500,000 applications returned as undeliverable.
Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project, released the following statement:
“We applaud the district court’s ruling that this crucial case can proceed to discovery. We cannot take accurate voter rolls for granted, and we must not settle for anything less than energetic and transparent voter roll maintenance. Secretary Benson and other groups tried to wrap the state’s legally-mandated program in a veil of secrecy. With this week’s ruling, we look forward to shedding light on what Michigan is, or is not, doing to preserve the quality and accuracy of its voter rolls.”
