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Another day, another lawsuit challenging Michigan voting laws

Voting in Michigan

A third lawsuit has been filed in less than a month by the liberal group Priorities USA challenging voting laws and regulations in Michigan. Above, a voter heads to a polling place in Grosse Pointe Park.

Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Bill Theobald
By Bill TheobaldNov 18, 2019
Bill Theobald

Bill Theobald is senior writer at The Fulcrum, where he focuses on everything to do with voting. This December marks his 40th anniversary in the business, and he still believes -- now more than ever -- that the glow from great journalism can truly light the world.

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A Democratic advocacy group has filed a third lawsuit in less than a month challenging Michigan laws and policies it says restrict voting rights.

The focus on Michigan voting laws by the super PAC Priorities USA reflects the importance of the state's 16 electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election. President Trump won Michigan, a swing state, by less than half a percentage point in 2016.

The latest lawsuit, filed Friday in state court, challenges actions taken after a successful 2018 ballot initiative expanded voting options, such as allowing people to register to vote at any time (including on Election Day). It also automatically registered people to vote when they obtained or renewed their driver's licenses.

The Republican-controlled Legislature has since passed a law limiting in-person registration to the local clerk's office. Democrats complained citizens should be able to register to vote at polling places, but GOP lawmakers said that would make waiting lines longer on Election Day.

The lawsuit also challenges a policy instituted by Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, that excludes teens from being automatically registered to vote when they turn 17 and a half years old.

Benson is the defendant in the case.

The latest lawsuit claims the documentation requirement and the ban on same-day registration at polling places hurts young voters more than others.

Priorities USA also filed a lawsuit last week challenging Michigan laws that ban rides to the polls for most people and organized absentee ballot application drives.

That lawsuit was filed in federal court against Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, also a Democrat.

The two laws contradict federal law and regulations, and are unconstitutional, the suit argues.

Last month, Priorities USA filed a separate lawsuit challenging a Michigan law allowing local election officials to discard mail-in ballots when signatures aren't similar enough to the handwriting on file. Michigan is one of several states where signature match laws are being challenged in court.


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A clear breakdown of voter ID laws under the Constitution, federal statutes, and court rulings—plus analysis of new Trump administration proposals to impose nationwide voter identification requirements.

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Just the Facts: Voter ID, States’ Powers, and Federal Limits

The Fulcrum approaches news stories with an open mind and skepticism, presenting our readers with a broad spectrum of viewpoints through diligent research and critical thinking. As best we can, remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in both our news gathering and selection of opinion pieces. However, before our readers can analyze varying viewpoints, they must have the facts.


Few issues generate more heat and are less understood than voter ID.

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President Trump doesn't need the SAVE America Act to pass. He only needs the debate to continue. Every minute spent arguing about voter suppression repeats the underlying premise — that noncitizen voting is a real and widespread problem — until it feels like an established fact. The question is whether Democrats will contest Republicans’ definition before the frame hardens.

Trump's claim that 88% of Americans support the bill traces to a Pew Research Center survey — a survey that found 83% support a “government-issued photo ID to vote,” not extreme vetting for proof of citizenship. That support included 95% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats, indicating genuine, broad, bipartisan support for a basic civic principle. That's worth taking seriously.

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Both the SAVE and MEGA Acts would disenfranchise millions of eligible U.S. citizens without making our federal elections more secure. They seek to roll out a faulty federal voter registration system, despite the existing separate registration and voting process for state and local elections. And these Acts target a minuscule “problem”—but would unleash mass voter purges and confusion.

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