The Michigan ACLU is suing a Kalamazoo County elections canvasser, Robert Froman, after he told the Detroit News he believed the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from Donald Trump — and that he would not certify this November's election results in his county if they "unfolded the same way."
(Efforts by Trump and people acting on his behalf have failed to produce proof of a stolen election or widespread fraud and have resulted in sanctions against some members of the former president's legal team. President Joe Biden won Michigan by more than 150,000 votes in 2020, and a Republican-led investigation upheld the integrity of the election process.)
ACLU attorney Phil Mayor said by law, county canvassers must certify election results within 14 days after voting takes place. It's a key part of the state's formal elections process.
The lawsuit asks the judge to issue a declaratory judgment informing Froman of his legal duty.
Mayor said a declaratory judgment that would also send a message to other county canvassers who might want to follow Froman's example, and prevent the kind of harm to the public's perception of the elections process that can't be undone.
It's not a vague fear, he said. A Wayne County elections canvasser initially refused to certify the results of the county's vote in the presidential election in 2020; more recently, Delta Township's board of canvassers at first refused to certify the results of a May, 2024, county commission recall election.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued a joint press release following the Delta Township incident, reminding county canvassers that failure to perform their duties could expose them to a misdemeanor Willful Neglect of Duty criminal charge, as well as substantial financial charges to their county, should the state be forced to take over the performance of the canvassers' duties.
Mayor said the ACLU hopes a judge's declaratory judgment will convince Froman — and other members of county boards of election canvassers — not to play politics with their jobs.
"It shouldn't be necessary to have to go into court a few months before an election to get a judgment like this," said Mayor. "But it has become necessary because of people taking these jobs to engage in partisan stunts rather than doing their simple job."
Froman said on the advice of counsel, he had no comment.
