The Republican National Committee and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign have sued Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, claiming she overstepped her authority by arranging for Veteran’s Affairs medical centers and Small Business Administration offices to act as voter registration agencies.
Under the National Voter Registration Act, offices designated as voter registration agencies must provide members of the public with information about and assistance with registering to vote.
Last year, Whitmer enacted what her office called “the first wholesale update of Michigan’s list of voter registration agencies under the National Voter Registration Act…in nearly 30 years.”
But the lawsuit, filed Monday morning in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, said that “Under Michigan law, the authority to make such designations is held solely by the Legislature.”
It is seeking to have those designations declared invalid.
Bobby Leddy, a spokesman for Whitmer, said her office is reviewing the complaint.
But Mark Brewer, an attorney and former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said the suit appeared to be part of a wider pattern of “voter suppression,” that has included challenges to the accuracy of the state’s voter files and to the authority of Benson’s office to regulate the conduct of polling places.
“They’re looking for every opportunity they can to discourage people from registering and voting,” he said, and “the mere pendency of the lawsuit,” whether or not is has merit, “enables them to raise doubts about the integrity of the election.”
The lawsuit also names Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Small Business Administration and other state and federal officials as defendants.
“The federal government should not be using American taxpayers’ dollars to conduct unauthorized voter registration activities,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “This is an illegal attempt by Biden, Whitmer, Benson, and the party in power to manipulate our country’s most important election. We are committed to stopping this election integrity violation and securing our elections.”
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires states to offer voter registration opportunities at certain state and local offices, specifically including offices and administer programs for recipients of public assistance and people with disabilities offices.
In the wake of its passage, the Michigan legislature passed legislation that, in part, directed then-Gov. John Engler to provide a list of offices that would act as voter registration agencies.
The contention of Trump’s legal team is that the legislation gave the governor one-time authority to make such selections.
Just a few months after taking office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order asking federal agencies to “consider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote.”
In 2023, Whitmer issued an executive order that updated the list of state offices that would act as voter registration agencies and formalized an agreement with the Department of Veterans Affairs for three VA locations in Michigan to do so, as well: the Saginaw VA Medical Center, the Detroit VA Medical Center and the agency’s Detroit regional office.
The agreement with the Small Business Administration was formalized last month.
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