Trump campaign files federal lawsuit seeking to stop Michigan's ballot certification
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WWMT) — The Trump campaign filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the state of Michigan, seeking to stop the state's certification of ballots in the presidential race.
It is the latest in a series of legal challenges as President Donald Trump refuses to concede the election to Democrat Joe Biden, whom most news outlets are projecting will become president. Although the votes have not been certified, and so remain unofficial, Biden has 290 electoral votes nationwide, and Trump has 217. Two states are still counting. In the popular vote, Biden has 51% to Trump's 47%.
In Michigan, Biden received 51% of the popular vote, and Trump received 48%, awarding the state's 16 electoral votes to Biden. In 2016, Trump won Michigan by an even slimmer margin, less than one percentage point.
- Electoral College: See the votes for the nation and state-by-state on the 2020 results, interactive map page
According to the lawsuit filed is U.S. District Court in Western Michigan, the Trump campaign said there were irregularities and unlawful vote counting in Michigan.
“As we have said from the beginning, our campaign will continue to ensure all Americans can trust in a free and fair election, and this lawsuit is a noteworthy step toward achieving that goal," Trump campaign general counsel Matt Morgan said.
The named defendants are Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, Wayne County and the Wayne County Board of County Canvassers.
The lawsuit includes more than 230 pages of affidavits documenting the alleged irregularities.
In the suit, campaign officials said they are concerned about irregularities in Detroit’s absentee ballot counting process and a software glitch in Antrim County that originally led to unofficial results favoring President-elect Biden in the typically bright red county.
According to the Michigan Department of State, the glitch occurred because the Antrim County clerk, a Republican, accidentally did not update the software used to collect voting machine data.
Last week, a judge in the Michigan Court of Claims threw out a separate lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign, saying it lacked any specific evidence and was hearsay.
There is no evidence of widespread election fraud in Michigan, nor any other state.
Other allegations include that Republican poll watchers were denied meaningful access to watch the vote counting at the TCF Center in Detroit.
Election officials have argued that at least 134 Republican challengers observed the ballot counting process before others were denied access due to COVID-19 capacity restrictions.
Affidavits included in the lawsuits alleged ineligible ballots, backdated ballots, and ballots where a person’s birthdate was recorded as Jan. 1, 1900.
In another affidavit, a woman said her deceased son was recorded as voting.
Michigan Department of State spokesperson Jake Rollow said there is no evidence of any wrong doing in Michigan’s election.
“This is the same kind of irresponsible false rhetoric and misinformation that we saw throughout the election,” Rollow said. “It is a press release masquerading as a legal claim designed to promote false claims aimed at eroding the public’s confidence in Michigan elections. But it does not change the truth: Michigan’s elections were conducted fairly, securely, transparently, and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people.“
