More than two and a half million people in Michigan have already cast their vote by absentee ballot or early in-person voting, but there are still expected to be lots of people at the polls on November 5, the final day to vote. And polling places won’t just be filled with voters. Counties across the state have seen an increase in organizations that want to send election challengers.
Michigan law allows for organizations to send challengers who can raise valid concerns over voter eligibility, and the actions of election workers. But there are rules about who can send challengers and how those challengers can behave in polling areas.
Political parties can automatically send up to two challengers to each precinct, though only one can make challenges at a time. Other outside organizations have to apply to county clerks offices to send their own challengers.
Up to 24 challengers may be in a Wayne County precinct at one time on Election Day
The number of challenger organizations in Michigan has ballooned since the last presidential election here. In Wayne County alone, 10 outside organizations have been approved to send challengers on election day. That means, in addition to the two major political parties and their challengers, up to 24 challengers may be in a Wayne County precinct at one time on Election Day.
But Wayne isn’t the only county that’s seen an increase in requests to send challengers to the polls.
“Until August of 2022, our usual challenger requests for each election were from 2 groups: the NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law,” said Ingham County clerk Barb Byrum.
In November of 2022, Byrum said 10 groups applied to send challengers in Ingham County. This election cycle, seven groups applied, though only four were approved.
Even rural county clerks have seen an increase in challenger requests this election cycle. Michigan Public reached out to clerks in all of the state’s 83 counties. About half responded and offered lists of the organizations that have been approved to send challengers on election day. Clerks in Dickinson and Menominee counties told Michigan Public they had zero requests from outside organizations to send challengers in the November 2020 election. This election, Dickinson has four and Menominee has three.
Just because an organization has been approved to send challengers to the polls doesn’t mean they will. But Byrum said her office has been preparing election workers for possible disruptions from challengers who don’t follow the rules.
“In our trainings, we absolutely encourage our election inspectors to alert their local clerk and/or law enforcement if there are disruptions in the precinct (which can include a challenger making repeated challenges that are not in good faith), and advise them to do what they need to maintain an orderly polling location,” Byrum said.
Rights and Responsibilities
Michigan law allows for challengers to oversee voting and counting at the polls, but it explicitly forbids both challengers and poll watchers from interfering with voters or election workers.
Violating these rules can even lead to criminal charges.
“A challenger shall not interfere with or unduly delay the work of the election inspectors. An individual who challenges a qualified and registered elector of a voting precinct for the purpose of annoying or delaying voters is guilty of a misdemeanor,” reads the Michigan law governing poll challengers.
While the law allows challengers to be present at the polls, view the poll books and record challenges on voter eligibility, there are also many restrictions on how they behave. Challengers cannot:
- Wear any item that identifies their organization or political cause
- Speak to voters or interfere with voting in any way.
- Take photos or record in the polling place.
- Touch ballots or poll books.
The Michigan Secretary of State published a 27 page guide on challengers and poll watchers. The initial draft of the guide was challenged in court, but the Michigan Supreme Court mostly upheld the original version. The current version of the guide makes clear that, in any case, challengers cannot disobey election workers.
“Challengers present at a polling place, early voting site, or absent voter ballot processing facility must follow the directions of the election inspectors operating the polling place, early voting site, or absent voter ballot processing facility,” the guide says.
So what can challengers do at the polls? Well, they can:
- Be present in the polling place during voting and counting.
- View the poll books
- Make challenges on voter eligibility to an election worker designated as the challenger liaison
- Challenge the actions of election workers
- Notify election workers of any outside party violating election law - such as campaigning within 100 feet of the polling place
- Take notes
- Use electronic devices as long as it’s not disruptive to the voting process.
A poll challenger, though, is not the same as a poll watcher. Poll watchers have many of the same rights – they’re allowed inside polling areas during the election, and they can observe the voting process as long as they don’t disrupt it. Just like challengers, they can’t interact with or talk to voters. But poll watchers aren’t able to raise challenges about the voting process. They also don’t have to be credentialed by an organization, or have to be a registered voter in the state.
Watchers also can show up at the polls on election day and just declare to the workers that they want to be a watcher. Candidates themselves can’t be poll watchers, but beyond that, there are few restrictions. Any poll watcher who violates the rules, however, can be removed from the polling place. If they refuse to leave, election workers are told they may contact law enforcement.
While Michigan law allows for oversight at every precinct by credentialed challengers and poll watchers, there are stark limits on how they can behave. Clerks and election workers have been preparing for the possibility of disruptive challengers and poll watchers since 2020, when disruptive challengers were barred from re-entering the TCF Center (now known as Huntington Place) in Detroit while absentee ballots were counted.
In Wayne County this election cycle, there could be up to two dozen challengers in any one precinct at a time, raising the question of how, logistically, workers could even allow that many people to be close enough to view the process as challengers are allowed to do. But while there’s clearly been an increase in organizations asking for permission to send challengers, it’s not clear if all of them have enough volunteers to send the people they’re allowed to send.
“We haven’t seen an influx from all the different organizations.”Grand Rapids city clerk, on challenger organizations so far in early voting
Early voting has given some indication on how things might go on Tuesday.
“It seems to be mostly just from the Republican and Democratic party,” said Grand Rapids city clerk Joel Hondorp, on the challengers he’s seen at the early voting and early tabulation sites so far. “We haven’t seen an influx from all the different organizations.”
In Kent County, seven organizations have been approved to send challengers, in addition to the parties. Kent County clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons said she’s not anticipating any problems, logistically or otherwise.
“I think it’s a good thing that there’s more interest from organizations and from our political parties to be part of the process,” Posthumus Lyons said. “There’s no better way to trust our elections than to learn about them and to be part of them.”
She added that the county has trained workers on what to expect from challengers, what their duties are and the rules they must follow.
