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Michigan elections are not for sale.  Out-of-state private interest groups funded by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and others have paid millions of dollars to Michigan election officials in exclusively Democrat precincts and dictated how those jurisdictions will conduct the election.  This is a privately-funded get-out-the-vote effort by progressive and left-wing organizations seeking to dictate how Michigan elections will be conducted.  It is wrong.  This effort to buy Michigan elections and dictate how local election officials in certain urban and Democrat precincts conduct the election violates Michigan’s Constitution and violates Michigan law.

Michigan voters filed a lawsuit this afternoon asking the Michigan Court of Claims to prevent this violation of Michigan voters’ right to equal protection and the right to a fair and honest election.  The voters ask the court to order local Michigan election officials in Wayne County, Flint, Ann Arbor, Lansing, East Lansing, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, and Saginaw to return the millions they were paid by an outside organization to direct the conduct of Michigan’s general election or to pay the money to Secretary of State Benson and order Secretary of State Benson to distribute the money equally among all Michigan election officials.

Thor Hearne, the lead counsel representing the Michigan voters, said, “Michigan elections are not for sale.  A billionaire cannot pay millions to local election authorities and dictate how they will conduct Michigan elections.  For Secretary of State Benson to allow this is a violation of every Michigan citizen’s right to equal protection.”

Click here to see the article in The Detroit News about the filing of the complaint:  “Benson Accused of Letting ‘Partisan Operatives’ Influence Election:  Lawsuit Alleges Center for Technology and Civic Life Gave $5.9M to Michigan Clerks in Urban and Democratic Precincts”

Click here to see the St. Louis Post Dispatch article: St. Louis, St. Louis County get big election grants from national nonprofit” which also mentions the Michigan lawsuit.

On Friday October 16th, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, warned against the placement and use of “unstaffed, unsecured, ballot drop boxes” that were being used by the California Republican Party in Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange County.  Secretary of State Padilla concluded by warning that “[t]he CA Republican Party can engage in campaign activities and ballot collection – but they have to play by the rules.” 

The Michigan voters who brought this case, Ryan v. Secretary of State Benson, made the same point that Democrat Secretary of State Padilla made – that the State of Michigan has rules – constitutional and statutory mandates – with which local election authorities and Michigan’s Secretary of State must comply.  As the California controversy demonstrates, this is not a partisan issue. Click here to see the press release.