Republican lawsuit alleges insufficient number of GOP election workers hired in Flint

The Michigan GOP and the Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Friday alleging Flint election officials hired an insufficient number of Republican election workers to help administer the upcoming election.

The lawsuit was filed in the 7th Circuit Court for Genesee County, according to Michigan Republican Party spokesperson Gustavo Portela. It seeks a court order requiring city election officials to hire specific Republican election workers, recruit additional Republicans, reallocate GOP election workers from polling locations to the counting board processing absentee ballots cast by the city's voters and appoint more than two dozen GOP election workers to higher posts.

Ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm, the RNC engaged in a campaign to recruit Republicans to serve as election workers. The lawsuit alleges that Republicans who contacted the city clerk's office to work the upcoming midterm were rejected. Of approximately 680 election workers hired, only 120 are Republicans based on hiring figures from the city's attorney, according to a copy of the complaint provided by the Michigan Republican Party.

Election officials in Michigan must strive for an equal representation of Democrats and Republicans among their election inspector workforce. Michigan election law requires local election boards to appoint "at least 1 election inspector from each major political party and … an equal number, as nearly as possible, of election inspectors in each election precinct from each major political party."

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In a statement, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel accused Flint election officials of hiring hundreds more Democratic election workers than Republicans to work at its absentee counting board responsible for processing absentee ballots cast by the city's voters. "This is unacceptable and unfair to Michigan voters: Republicans are going to court to deliver the fairness that Michiganders deserve," she said.

Clerks in Michigan's largest cities where voters tend to back Democratic candidates have said that hiring enough Republican workers to achieve a partisan balance is a perennial challenge.

In a statement, Michigan GOP Chairman Ron Weiser accused Flint officials of a "blatant attempt to skirt the law, which states you must have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats" that demonstrates "Democrats are putting their fingers on the scale when it comes to administering our elections."

"We’re going to continue fighting to protect the integrity of our elections in Michigan," Weiser said.

The "Michigan Election Protection Team," a recruitment effort to sign up more Republican election inspectors had the backing of dozens of organizations, including those that deny the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. The Michigan Republican Party paid for the protection team's website, which asked interested GOP election inspectors to turn in their applications to Matthew Seifried, the Michigan elections integrity director for the RNC.

Speaking at an event in April held by one of the organizations on the "Election Protection Team," Seifried foreshadowed the possibility of legal action this cycle related to election worker hiring. He said that the RNC planned to return election inspector applications on behalf of interested Republicans. "And if they don't, if they deliberately ignore you, then we have talked to lawyers to explore how we can challenge that," he said.

The lawsuit marks the second major election-related challenge in Michigan from the Republican Party ahead of the upcoming midterm. Republicans recently scored a legal victory in a lawsuit filed in late September seeking a court order invalidating certain provisions of the guidelines for election challengers restricting their ability to bring cell phones into counting rooms, communicate with any election worker they choose and record challenges deemed meritless in the poll book.

In a legal filing, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson asked the Michigan Supreme Court to suspend that order pending appeal.

Those eligible to vote have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to register and cast a ballot at their local clerk’s office. To avoid postal delays, the Secretary of State's Office recommends voters request an absentee ballot in person. Polling locations will open at 7 a.m. on Election Day Nov. 8 and close at 8 p.m.

Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan GOP, RNC sue Flint officials over poll worker hires