Judge Rules Michigan Secretary of State broke State Law with Absentee Ballot Order
Judge Christopher Murray of Michigan has ruled that the Michigan Secretary of State violated state election law. Secretary Joceyln Benson gave several election related orders that circumvented the Michigan legislative branch. Of specific note, Benson ordered that absentee ballots be sent to every registered voter. Furthermore, she said that absentee ballots should be assumed to be legitimate even if there were irregularities in the signatures of the absentee voter. In fact, according to Benson’s orders, it only required “slight similarities” for a vote counter to presume the signature as valid.
Officially, Benson issued “guidance.” However, her “guidance” was in effect “more of an order mandating virtually all ballots be counted — regardless of their actual signature qualifications.”
Judge Murray ruled that Benson violated Michigan’s Administrative Procedures Act. “[T]he 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).” Note that the order was given almost a month before election day. Murray’s court opinion continues:
“[N]owhere in this state’s 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 — which places the thumb on the scale in favor of a signature’s validity — should be made pursuant to properly promulgated rules under the APA or by the Legislature.”
Michigan state Representative Matt Hall, a Republican, celebrated, “I’m glad the court sees Secretary of State Benson’s attempts at lawmaking for what they are — clear violations of her authority.” Hall continued saying that if Benson wanted to see changes, she needed to go through the proper channels by “working with the Legislature.”
Biden-supporting state officials like Benson issued orders expanding mail-in voting in the name of the coronavirus and public health. However, even the [in]famous Dr. Fauci agreed that in-person voting could take place. “I think, if carefully done, according to the guidelines, there’s no reason that I can see why that not be the case,” the doctor said.
Unfortunately, a genuine health care issue was politicized in the name of power for the purposes of stopping the evil orange man, Donald Trump. “Never waste a good crisis” the old saying goes.
While this ruling by Michigan’s courts comes far too late to impact election results, former President Trump and his supporters are feeling a bit of vindication. Trump and his legal team alleged repeatedly that several states, including Michigan, were failing to enforce and follow their own election laws. Many used one of Trump’s favorite phrases against him – calling he and his legal team’s claims “fake news.” However, now Trump supporters can claim at least one legal victory regarding the 2020 election fiasco.
Perhaps this will lead to so-called moderates seeing that the claims of election irregularities were valid ones that need investigation. A conundrum exists, however, regarding state election laws. The Constitution explicitly states that the individual states have the right to determine how elections take place. For better or worse, this is partly why the Supreme Court of the United States declined to hear lawsuits made against a state violating its own elections laws by another state.
Hopefully, progressives will realize that, like the elimination of the filibuster and the packing of the Supreme Court, dishonest election practices will hurt everyone involved and set terrible precedent. Eventually Republicans will be back in power with a huge incentive to give Democrats a piece of their own medicine, which will not be good for the stability of the nation.
Mitchell D. Cochran is a family life educator, a financial coach, and a board certified biblical counselor. He is the cofounder of Hope Initiative Consulting, LLC. and is currently attending Calvary University for his M.A. in biblical counseling. Mitchell is active in local politics in Lubbock, TX, where he lives with his wife, Katherine.
