By Lily Guiney
Gongwer News Service
A lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee seeking to invalidate certain Michigan election laws and an election manual issued by the state on the basis that they violate constitutional requirements that only Michigan residents may vote in the state's elections was dismissed by a judge in the Michigan Court of Claims last Thursday.
Judge Sima Patel dismissed Republican National Committee v. Benson (COC Docket No. 25-000181), which dealt with rules and laws related to absentee ballot voting for military service members, their families and Michiganders living overseas, and said the statute in question is constitutional and the election manual complies with the statute itself.
Patel noted in her opinion that the RNC filed a similar lawsuit, also dealing with absentee voting, in 2024, and since the rules and laws in question have not changed since then, largely repeated the dismissal of the current suit from the dismissal of the prior one.
Underpinning the plaintiffs’ argument that Michigan’s overseas voter laws are unconstitutional was the argument that a bona fide residency of at least six months is required by the state constitution to vote in Michigan elections, which Patel said has been invalidated since the 1972 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dunn v. Blumenstein, which struck down time-residency requirements themselves as unconstitutional.
“‘Durational residence requirements completely bar from voting all residents not meeting the fixed durational standards. By denying some citizens the right to vote, such laws deprive them of a fundamental political right, preservative of all rights,’” Patel said, quoting from the 1972 SCOTUS opinion. “As the six-month residency requirement in § 1 is null and void, so too is the limitation on the Legislature’s power to establish lesser residency requirements in § 3. Second, clauses 2 and 3 simply permit a former Michigan resident who has left the state but is not yet eligible to vote in another state, to vote by AVB in federal elections in Michigan. This constitutional provision in no way prevents the Legislature from extending the qualification to vote to the subject class.”
Benson celebrated the dismissal last Thursday with a statement and said she hopes it will serve as a lesson for the RNC, which has sued her several times.
“Today’s court decision is a victory for military service members, their families, and the rule of law; it’s a defeat for this disgraceful, coordinated attack against eligible Michigan voters and our secure election process,” Benson said. “I hope the court’s dismissal of this case marks the end of the RNC’s misguided and unlawful interference into our work to ensure all citizens can cast their ballots freely, fairly, and securely. Either way, Michigan is prepared to continue to defend the voting rights of every eligible citizen in our state and across the nation.”
Gongwer News Service
A lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee seeking to invalidate certain Michigan election laws and an election manual issued by the state on the basis that they violate constitutional requirements that only Michigan residents may vote in the state's elections was dismissed by a judge in the Michigan Court of Claims last Thursday.
Judge Sima Patel dismissed Republican National Committee v. Benson (COC Docket No. 25-000181), which dealt with rules and laws related to absentee ballot voting for military service members, their families and Michiganders living overseas, and said the statute in question is constitutional and the election manual complies with the statute itself.
Patel noted in her opinion that the RNC filed a similar lawsuit, also dealing with absentee voting, in 2024, and since the rules and laws in question have not changed since then, largely repeated the dismissal of the current suit from the dismissal of the prior one.
Underpinning the plaintiffs’ argument that Michigan’s overseas voter laws are unconstitutional was the argument that a bona fide residency of at least six months is required by the state constitution to vote in Michigan elections, which Patel said has been invalidated since the 1972 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dunn v. Blumenstein, which struck down time-residency requirements themselves as unconstitutional.
“‘Durational residence requirements completely bar from voting all residents not meeting the fixed durational standards. By denying some citizens the right to vote, such laws deprive them of a fundamental political right, preservative of all rights,’” Patel said, quoting from the 1972 SCOTUS opinion. “As the six-month residency requirement in § 1 is null and void, so too is the limitation on the Legislature’s power to establish lesser residency requirements in § 3. Second, clauses 2 and 3 simply permit a former Michigan resident who has left the state but is not yet eligible to vote in another state, to vote by AVB in federal elections in Michigan. This constitutional provision in no way prevents the Legislature from extending the qualification to vote to the subject class.”
Benson celebrated the dismissal last Thursday with a statement and said she hopes it will serve as a lesson for the RNC, which has sued her several times.
“Today’s court decision is a victory for military service members, their families, and the rule of law; it’s a defeat for this disgraceful, coordinated attack against eligible Michigan voters and our secure election process,” Benson said. “I hope the court’s dismissal of this case marks the end of the RNC’s misguided and unlawful interference into our work to ensure all citizens can cast their ballots freely, fairly, and securely. Either way, Michigan is prepared to continue to defend the voting rights of every eligible citizen in our state and across the nation.”
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