The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit against the city of Detroit, Michigan, alleging that the city failed to appoint enough Republican poll workers in accordance with state law.
In May, Paula Naquet Nemeth, then chairwoman of Wayne's 12th District, submitted to Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey a list of 675 Republicans interested in working as poll workers, also known as election observers, in Detroit. Litigation The document filed last week stated:
“Detroit's failure to hire Republican poll workers is a form of malign Democratic interference that undermines confidence in our elections.”
A month later, members of the elections board released the names and political party affiliations of all the poll workers employed. The lawsuit alleges that of the 675 names submitted by Gunake Nemeth, only 52 were appointed for the state's August primary election.
According to Centre SquareDetroit has more than 500 precincts, but only 335 of them provided the poll worker information required by law. Of the 335 precincts that complied with the law, at least 202 were ” Any “Republican election observers,” the Republican National Committee's complaint states.
Michigan law also requires city elections officials to hire poll workers from the two major political parties in “equal numbers as far as practicable.”
According to the Republican National Committee, the city reportedly hired about 250 additional Republicans, bringing the total number of Republican poll workers to 310. But the RNC also claimed that the additional 250 Republicans were not appointed by the party.
Meanwhile, the city employed more than 2,300 Democratic poll workers, a ratio of Democrats to Republicans of about 7:1, the Republican National Committee claims.
Through its lawsuit, the Republican National Committee is demanding that Detroit hire more Republican election observers, “correct” the “imbalance” between the political parties and “ensure that November's election complies with legal requirements for balanced representation between the political parties,” the committee said in a statement. press release.
“Detroit's failure to hire Republican poll workers is a malicious Democratic interference that undermines confidence in our elections. The Republican National Committee is suing to remedy this completely unacceptable violation of public trust. Our unprecedented election integrity movement will continue to fight in Michigan and across the nation to protect every voter's right to a fair, accurate, secure and transparent election,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump said in a joint statement.
“All Michiganders should have full confidence in the fairness of our elections and the security of their votes, and any wrongdoing, like not hiring an equal number of Republican poll workers, is counterproductive. This lawsuit will help protect our right to free, fair and transparent elections,” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra said in a statement.
of Detroit Free Press Messages were left with Winfrey, the city clerk, Mary Sheffield, who runs the elections board, and corporation counsel Conrad Mallett.
A statement from Mayor Mike Duggan's (Democratic) office said the Department of Law does not comment on pending litigation.
The RNC previously sued the city of Flint for allegedly violating state election law, but that lawsuit was dismissed.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censorship and sign up for our newsletter to receive stories like this directly to your inbox. Register here!
