(Source: MIRS.news, Published 12/09/2022) The Michigan Supreme Court Friday denied former attorney general candidate Matt DePerno's appeal in a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results in Antrim County.
The justices said they were not persuaded to review the questions presented.
However, Justice David Viviano, who concurred in the denial, wrote that the constitutional provision regulating challenges to election results is unclear as to whether an individual can undertake his or her own separate election audit.
Attorney General Dana Nessel called the order "the final word … on the legitimacy and accuracy of our elections." Nessel said the fraudulent claims in Bailey v. Antrim County were used to "undermine the electorate's faith" in elections nationwide.
"Not a single member of the Court believed the claims made by the Plaintiff or his counsel were worthy of consideration," Nessel said in a statement. "Let this be the nail in the coffin for the specious claims made during the course of this case."
Antrim County officials acknowledged they committed a programming error Election Day 2020 that made the initial results show that now-President Joe Biden had more votes than former President Donald Trump in Antrim County. The situation was fixed by lunch the next day and verified through a hand recount.
William Bailey is a private citizen who was challenging the results of a close vote on a marijuana facility question in Central Lake, which is in Antrim County.
He alleged Michigan's Constitution gives individuals the right to a statewide elections audit, and that as a result he should be allowed an "independent and nonpartisan forensic audit" of the Antrim County election results. DePerno was Bailey's attorney and fought aggressively to show election irregularities in court.
At the Michigan Court of Appeals, DePerno argued the successful 2018-passed Promote the Vote ballot campaign gave all 8 million Michigan voters the right to conduct an audit, but that court rejected DePerno's arguments.
DePerno's pursuit of Bailey's lawsuit garnered him recognition and helped propel him to receive the Republican nomination for attorney general. However, he lost to Nessel by about 9 percentage points.
In the aftermath of that loss, DePerno now seeks the GOP's chair seat.
