{"id":56562,"date":"2021-03-18T15:01:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T19:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=56562"},"modified":"2021-03-18T15:01:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T19:01:47","slug":"michigan-absentee-ballot-order-broke-law-state-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=56562","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Absentee Ballot Order Broke Law &#8212; State Judge"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>MI Court: Michigan Secretary of State\u2019s Absentee Ballot Order Broke Law, Vindicating Trump Claim<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><div id=\"attachment_56563\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-56563\" class=\"wp-image-56563 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/AP_20065776324674-640x480-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/AP_20065776324674-640x480-1.jpg 640w, http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/AP_20065776324674-640x480-1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-56563\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Eggert\/AP Photo<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>KYLE OLSON<br \/>\nBreitbart.com<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"subheading\">A Michigan judge ruled last week Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) broke state law when she unilaterally issued rules related to absentee balloting, legitimizing a key claim made by the Trump campaign in its legal challenges to the 2020 election.<\/h3>\n<p>Benson issued several unilateral orders during the 2020 election including sending absentee ballot applications to all registered voters. She also issued \u201cguidance\u201d on how to evaluate absentee ballots, a move Michigan Court of Claims Chief Judge Christopher Murray held violated the state\u2019s Administrative Procedures Act.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"x5l\" title=\"View Genetski v. Benson, No. 20-216-MM in the Court of Claims for the State of Michigan on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/498855479\/Genetski-v-Benson-No-20-216-MM-in-the-Court-of-Claims-for-the-State-of-Michigan#from_embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Genetski v. Benson, No. 20-216-MM in the Court of Claims for the State of Michigan<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" title=\"View Breitbart News's profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/publisher\/298980670\/Breitbart-News#from_embed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Breitbart News<\/a>\u00a0on Scribd<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/498855479\/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-Q53ybQyDQHsYUUBdpmSj\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nIn the guidance, Benson said \u201cslight similarities\u201d in signatures on absentee ballots should lead a counter to decide \u201cin favor of finding that the voter\u2019s signature was valid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Murray ruled Benson violated the law \u201cbecause the guidance issued by the Secretary of State on October 6, 2020, with respect to signature matching standards was issued in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m glad the court sees Secretary of State Benson\u2019s attempts at lawmaking for what they are \u2014 clear violations of her authority,\u201d Michigan state Rep. Matt Hall (R) said in\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/gophouse.org\/posts\/rep-hall-benson-overstepped-authority-crafting-signature-verification-standards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf she wants to make changes like these, she needs to work with the Legislature or properly promulgate them through the laws we have on the books \u2014 in this case the Administrative Procedures Act,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>Murray\u2019s ruling came after Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski sued Benson and state Director of Elections Jonathan Brater over Benson\u2019s order which Hall described as a \u201cmandatory directive requiring local election officials to apply a presumption of validity to all signatures on absent voter ballots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the suit, Genetski argued \u201cthe presumption contained in the guidance issued by defendant Benson will allow invalid votes to be counted,\u201d but Genetski did not allege \u201cthat this guidance caused him to accept a signature that he believed was invalid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The court\u2019s opinion concluded:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2026nowhere in this state\u2019s election law has the Legislature indicated that signatures are to be presumed valid, nor did the Legislature require that signatures are to be accepted so long as there are any redeeming qualities in the application or return envelope as compared with the signature on file. Policy determinations like the one at issue \u2014 which places the thumb on the scale in favor of a signature\u2019s validity \u2014 should be made pursuant to properly promulgated rules under the APA or by the Legislature.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Like other progressive secretaries of state, Benson put an aggressive emphasis on voting by absentee ballot in the name of safety amid the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Over 3.1 million Michigan voters cast an absentee ballot out of a possible 7.7 million voters, WWMT News\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/wwmt.com\/news\/election\/more-than-27-million-michigan-voters-request-absentee-ballots-for-nov-3-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In May 2020, Benson used $4.5 million in funds from the CARES Act \u2014 the original coronavirus stimulus \u2014 to send absentee ballot applications to all voters, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2020\/05\/19\/michigan-uses-4-5-million-in-cares-act-funds-to-push-vote-by-mail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Breitbart News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy mailing applications, we have ensured that no Michigander has to choose between their health and their right to vote,\u201d Benson said\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"https:\/\/nbc25news.com\/newsletter-daily\/michigan-voters-to-receive-applications-to-vote-by-mail-for-august-november-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">according<\/a>\u00a0to NBC 25.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoting by mail is easy, convenient, safe, and secure, and every voter in Michigan has the right to do it,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n<p>Hall noted, \u201cThe Legislature is an equal branch of government charged with crafting laws. This is not the role of the Secretary of State, and there is a clear process that must be respected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Signature validation rules created without the approval of a legislature was one of the issues the Trump campaign and Republicans claimed was done illegally in the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s campaign and Republicans argued in cases nationwide that Article II of the Constitution requires state legislatures to make the rules governing presidential elections, and state election officials and courts lack the authority to change those rules.<\/p>\n<p>Murray\u2019s ruling undercuts the Democrat narrative that Republican legal challenges to 2020 election procedures were without merit and had therefore all been rejected by the courts.\u00a0The original suit was filed October 6, 2020 \u2014 prior to the presidential election \u2014 but was not decided until March 9, 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The case is\u00a0<i>Genetski v. Benson<\/i>, No. 20-216-MM in the Court of Claims for the State of Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/03\/16\/mi-court-michigan-secretary-of-states-absentee-ballot-order-broke-law-vindicating-trump-claim\/\">https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/03\/16\/mi-court-michigan-secretary-of-states-absentee-ballot-order-broke-law-vindicating-trump-claim\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MI Court: Michigan Secretary of State\u2019s Absentee Ballot Order Broke Law, Vindicating Trump Claim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}