By Zach Gorchow
Gongwer News Service
Submitted absentee ballots where the number on the ballot stub is either missing or doesn’t match the number on the return envelope cannot be counted, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Court of Claims Judge Brock Swartzle, in issuing the ruling in favor of the Republican National Committee, which had sued Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over her guidance that such ballots should be counted as challenged ballots, asked the parties for briefs on whether there should be an opportunity for voters to cure their ballots in such situations.
The case, Republican National Committee v. Jocelyn Benson (COC Case No. 24-000148), goes back to the 2024 election cycle.
At issue was decades-long guidance from the Bureau of Elections that when clerks receive absentee ballots where the number on the stub is missing or doesn’t match the return envelope, they should process them as challenged. The RNC and Michigan Republican Party sued, contending that a 2024 change to the Michigan Election Law made clear the number on the stub must match the number on the envelope for the ballot to be counted.
The Republican organizations, along with Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry, said voters should be given an opportunity cure the defect.
Swartzle dismissed Benson’s and Elections Director Jonathan Brater’s arguments about the decades-long guidance, saying it was rendered obsolete after the 2024 statutory change.
“Our Legislature was clear when it amended the law in 2024: A board of election inspectors is authorized to tabulate an absent-voter ballot only when the unique-identifying number on the ballot stub matches the unique-identifying number on the face of the envelope in which that ballot and stub were delivered,” he wrote. “If there is not a match, then the board of election inspectors has no statutory authority to which the secretary can point to tabulate that ballot, whether as a regular absent-voter ballot, a challenged ballot, or some other thing. As such, the ballot cannot, by law, be tabulated.”
Whether the voter acted nefariously or made an innocent mistake, counting the ballot would undermine the integrity of the election, Swartzle wrote.
The Legislature chose to write the statute by granting no authority to tabulate these ballots, he wrote.
“Defendants also assert that not tabulating these problematic ballots might very well disenfranchise absent voters,” Swartzle wrote. “One could just as plausibly flip defendants’ argument on its head and contend that tabulation of mismatched ballots might very well disenfranchise legitimate voters by diluting the impact of their votes validly cast.”
Swartzle asked the parties to submit briefs on what should happen to the ballot and envelope when the numbers don’t match and what procedures, if any, election officials should follow to allow the voter the chance to cure the ballot. He ordered the briefs filed by 4 p.m. Dec. 17.
“The law is simple: ballot stubs must match, and incomplete ballots cannot be counted,” said RNC Chair Joe Gruters in a statement. “This ruling is a major win for election integrity and for voters who deserve confidence that every lawful vote is protected.”
Gongwer News Service
Submitted absentee ballots where the number on the ballot stub is either missing or doesn’t match the number on the return envelope cannot be counted, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Court of Claims Judge Brock Swartzle, in issuing the ruling in favor of the Republican National Committee, which had sued Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over her guidance that such ballots should be counted as challenged ballots, asked the parties for briefs on whether there should be an opportunity for voters to cure their ballots in such situations.
The case, Republican National Committee v. Jocelyn Benson (COC Case No. 24-000148), goes back to the 2024 election cycle.
At issue was decades-long guidance from the Bureau of Elections that when clerks receive absentee ballots where the number on the stub is missing or doesn’t match the return envelope, they should process them as challenged. The RNC and Michigan Republican Party sued, contending that a 2024 change to the Michigan Election Law made clear the number on the stub must match the number on the envelope for the ballot to be counted.
The Republican organizations, along with Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry, said voters should be given an opportunity cure the defect.
Swartzle dismissed Benson’s and Elections Director Jonathan Brater’s arguments about the decades-long guidance, saying it was rendered obsolete after the 2024 statutory change.
“Our Legislature was clear when it amended the law in 2024: A board of election inspectors is authorized to tabulate an absent-voter ballot only when the unique-identifying number on the ballot stub matches the unique-identifying number on the face of the envelope in which that ballot and stub were delivered,” he wrote. “If there is not a match, then the board of election inspectors has no statutory authority to which the secretary can point to tabulate that ballot, whether as a regular absent-voter ballot, a challenged ballot, or some other thing. As such, the ballot cannot, by law, be tabulated.”
Whether the voter acted nefariously or made an innocent mistake, counting the ballot would undermine the integrity of the election, Swartzle wrote.
The Legislature chose to write the statute by granting no authority to tabulate these ballots, he wrote.
“Defendants also assert that not tabulating these problematic ballots might very well disenfranchise absent voters,” Swartzle wrote. “One could just as plausibly flip defendants’ argument on its head and contend that tabulation of mismatched ballots might very well disenfranchise legitimate voters by diluting the impact of their votes validly cast.”
Swartzle asked the parties to submit briefs on what should happen to the ballot and envelope when the numbers don’t match and what procedures, if any, election officials should follow to allow the voter the chance to cure the ballot. He ordered the briefs filed by 4 p.m. Dec. 17.
“The law is simple: ballot stubs must match, and incomplete ballots cannot be counted,” said RNC Chair Joe Gruters in a statement. “This ruling is a major win for election integrity and for voters who deserve confidence that every lawful vote is protected.”
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