Trump campaign sues Gretchen Whitmer to block Michigan veteran voter registration sites

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has filed a lawsuit against Michigan officials, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, to block a directive to designate Veterans Affairs offices and other public facilities as voter registration sites.

Per the lawsuit, filed Monday, the Trump campaign seeks a "permanent injunction barring the state … from designating any VRAs [voter registration agencies] without express authorization from the Michigan Legislature."

The directive — which would have instituted registration offices in Michigan Veterans Affairs, Worker’s Disability Compensation Agency and U.S. Small Business Administration offices — would have enabled Michiganders to check, update, and join the voter rolls more easily.

But the Republican National Committee-backed lawsuit alleges that Whitmer’s office didn’t have the legal authority to open the sites, further adding without evidence that Whitmer’s move “undermines the integrity of elections by increasing the opportunity for individuals to register to vote even though they are ineligible to do so.”

“When more Michiganders vote, our government is more accountable to the people,” Whitmer wrote in the December 2023 directive that created the registration sites. “I am fully committed to protecting the fundamental right to vote, making participation in our democracy more accessible, combatting misinformation, and empowering all eligible voters to make their voices heard.”

Michigan, a state Trump won in 2016 and lost in 2020, is seen as a crucial battleground state, with his campaign pulling out massive fundraising and advertising efforts, paired with its legal battle to strip back voter registration following its failed 2020 effort to “stop the count” of votes in the state.