The Republican National Committee and Michigan GOP on Monday announced another win for election integrity in the Wolverine State.
After suing Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for giving election officials improper guidance—telling local clerks and election inspectors to process and count mail ballots that did not include stub numbers—the court held that the absentee ballots must be corrected.
Secretary Benson even acknowledged at the hearing that voter fraud could be committed through ballots that do not have matching serial numbers, the RNC noted.
“The RNC applauds the finding by the Court requiring Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to follow Michigan law requiring ballot number matching, which comes after Benson admitted that her illegal guidance opened the door to fraud," said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley. "Ballot number matching requirements are commonsense safeguards which make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. We will not stop fighting for a secure election in Michigan and across the country.”
Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra, meanwhile, emphasized that Republicans are continuing to take legal action to ensure the state's election laws are followed.
"Ballot number matching requirements are a simple way to protect the integrity of our elections, and Michiganders deserve that peace of mind," Hoekstra said.
The election integrity win comes after a separate lawsuit against Benson for failing to enforce absentee ballot verification laws. In response, she updated guidance to require proof that signatures are verified prior to ballots being counted.