The Michigan Court of Appeals has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Flint election officials by the Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee.
Their lawsuit claims Flint election commissioners in August and November of 2022 ignored GOP applicants in order to stack the city’s cadre of election watchers with more Democrats than Republicans.
But the appeals court didn’t rule specifically on those claims and focused its decision on legal standing. The court held that the state and national parties were too far removed to show a direct connection to the case and hinted the plaintiffs might have had better luck if the lawsuit had been filed by the Genesee County Republican Party.
“A closer question, and one not raised on appeal, is whether plaintiffs would have organizational standing based upon the rights and interests of the Republican chair for Genesee County. Because the issue has not been raised, we decline to consider it,” said the unanimous opinion.
Flint City Clerk Davina Donahue, who sits on the city’s elections commission, told Michigan Public she thinks the appeals court got it right.
“Michigan elections are run at the local level so we’re glad that the Court of Appeals recognized that this is a local issue,” she said.
Donahue also said she is confident in how the city handled the August and November 2022 elections.
“Yes, we can show that we did everything in our ability to get as many election workers — Republican election workers — as possible and, yes, we can defend that,” she said. “That’s what we’ve done to this point.”
Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra said he is still examining the decision and deciding next steps.
“This is asking to ensure that Republicans and Democrats have the same opportunity to be at the polls and to verify that the election process is fair, and that’s what we’re fighting for,” he said in a phone interview from a meeting of the Republican National Committee in Houston.
The next step would an appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, probably with a request for an expedited schedule for a decision with the November elections eight months away.
