National Republicans want in on case challenging Michigan voting laws
National and state Republicans want to intervene in a Democratic super PAC’s federal lawsuit challenging Michigan’s voting rules, arguing the laws are constitutional and the GOP has much to lose being left out of the case.
The Republican National Committee and Michigan Republican Party hope to challenge a suit brought in US District Court in Detroit by Priorities USA, a DC-based group that supports Democratic candidates and issues around the country.
The group’s November lawsuit alleges two laws are unconstitutional and pose “unreasonable and unnecessary” hurdles to voting. One bars people from hiring poll transportation for voters who could otherwise walk; another prohibits people from handling others’ absentee ballots.
If it were legal, Priorities USA argued, the PAC would pay for rides to the polls and help people submit absentee ballots.
Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has so far unsuccessfully sought to dismiss the case, contending the rules are constitutional and that Priorities USA and another plaintiff, the Michigan-based Detroit chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, don’t have the legal authority to sue.
Republicans seeking to join the case also want it dismissed but for different reasons than Nessel. They contend the GOP has a vested interest in the protections the rules afford their candidates.
“In particular, candidates should not face the risk that [absentee] ballot applications submitted in their races will be destroyed, manipulated, or otherwise fraudulently altered by unknown actors,” wrote Republicans’ attorney, Kurtis Wilder of Butzel Long, a Detroit-based law firm.
The RNC’s challenge is a part of a more than $10 million effort to fight voting-related lawsuits brought by Democrats, Politico reported.
“The Michigan Republican Party is proud to stand up for two commonsense Michigan laws which for decades have protected Michigan citizens from undue special interest influence and pressure,” state party chairwoman Laura Cox said in a statement.
Ronna McDaniel, RNC chairwoman, said in a statement that the group will “aggressively defend the integrity of the democratic process and support the right of all eligible voters to cast an effective ballot, and this includes meeting the Democrats in court.”
“Democrats are trying to rig the game with frivolous lawsuits that do nothing but create electoral chaos, waste taxpayer money, and distract election officials in an attempt to advance the Democrats’ voter suppression myth because they know they can’t beat President Trump at the ballot box,” she said.
Priorities USA was the highest-spending super PAC in the country during the last presidential election cycle, spending more than $133 million on Democratic campaigns.
“It is shameful and unAmerican for the RNC to spend millions of dollars disenfranchising voters across the country,” said Guy Cecil, chairman of Priorities USA.
“We will not stop fighting voter suppression efforts until every barrier to the ballot box in our most vulnerable communities is torn down.”
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