(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/21/2024) A judge Monday dismissed the GOP's lawsuit challenging Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's guidance stating that overseas citizens who haven't been to Michigan still have a chance to vote.

Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel rejected the Michigan Republican Party, Republican National Committee and Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry's "11th hour attempt to disenfranchise" military spouses and overseas citizen voters' ability to vote in the Nov. 5 general election.

" . . . The challenged language in the Secretary of State Election Officials Manual … is consistent with federal and state law, and the Michigan Constitution," Patel’s 20-page order reads.

Benson praised the ruling, calling it an "important victory for our military and overseas citizen voters and for the integrity of our elections."

Benson added: "This baseless lawsuit targeted the voting rights of U.S. citizens and their families living abroad, including the children of active-duty military service members. It represents a new low in the ongoing (public relations) campaign to cast doubt on the security of Michigan's elections. The judge rightly refused to allow this last-minute attempt to cause chaos."

In their suit, the Republican plaintiffs argued the state Constitution requires a person must live in the state for six months in order to vote and while the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absenting Voting Act allows them to vote, they can't legally vote in the state.

Patel rejected the state's argument that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring their suit, but she agreed that filing the suit so close to the election is barred by the doctrine of laches, which prevents claimants from receiving relief if they unreasonably delay making their claim.

Michigan electors have already begun casting their absentee voter ballots (AVB) – more than one million citizens have already submitted an AVB, according to Secretary of State data.

"It would be extremely difficult or impossible for defendants to design and carry out a program to reject potentially thousands of AVBs at this time," Patel wrote. " … The Secretary of State has no process in place to distinguish the AVBs cast by absent uniformed and overseas voters whose last residence was in Michigan from AVBs cast by spouses and dependents who gained resident status under" the relevant state statute.