Established Fact
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued administrative guidance on signature matching for absentee ballots — directing clerks to presume signatures valid — following the filing and voluntary dismissal of a “friendly” lawsuit by Priorities USA (No. 3:19-cv-13188, E.D. Mich.). The lawsuit was dismissed in May 2020 after Benson issued guidance that largely provided the relief plaintiffs had sought, circumventing the need to obtain a legislative change from the Republican-controlled Michigan Legislature. The Michigan Court of Claims later ruled the guidance invalid as a rule not promulgated under the Administrative Procedures Act (Mar. 2021); the guidance had been operative during the November 2020 election.
Citations
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, Priorities USA v. Benson, No. 3:19-cv-13188 (E.D. Mich.) (filed Oct. 30, 2019; dismissed May 8, 2020 after Secretary of State Benson voluntarily issued administrative guidance on signature matching that largely provided the relief plaintiffs sought; Michigan Legislature intervened as defendant, characterizing the resolution as “sue and settle”).
Michigan Court of Claims, Genetski v. Benson (Mar. 2021), reported at Michigan Public Radio (judge ruled Benson’s October 2020 signature-matching guidance — directing clerks to presume signatures valid — was invalid as a rule not promulgated under the Administrative Procedures Act; guidance had been operative during the November 2020 election).
Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.765a(6) (Michigan absentee ballot signature verification requirement).
U.S. Const. art. I, § 4 (Elections Clause — note: the voluntary guidance, rather than a court order or consent decree, was later struck down as an APA violation; no court ruled it an Elections Clause violation).