Judge rules Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state broke law with absentee ballot rule
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson instructed clerks to presume the accuracy of signatures on absentee ballots
A Michigan judge ruled last week that Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson violated state law by unilaterally altering absentee voting rules ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
At issue is a now-invalidated directive Benson issued to Michigan clerks in October relating to the signature review of absentee ballots. In the guidance, the secretary of state reportedly directed clerks to conduct the signature review “begin[ning] with the presumption that” the signature on the absentee is valid.
The directive went on to say that if there were “any redeeming qualities in the application or return envelope signature as compared to the signature on file,” clerks should “treat the signature as valid.” Such “redeeming qualities” allegedly included “similar distinctive flourishes” and “more matching features than non-matching features.”