O’Halloran v. Benson (2024)

On behalf of eight Michigan election clerks, Public Rights Project filed an amicus brief urging the state Supreme Court to uphold guidance related to managing election challengers.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued the guidance in 2022 to address growing concerns about the election challenger process being misused to intimidate voters and disenfranchise voters with delays. The secretary’s guidance includes straightforward updates empowering local election officials to guard against subversion. 

Frivolous challenges sow confusion and unfairly undermine election integrity. However, the manual doesn’t change the rights or opportunities of legitimate challengers to raise questions about voter registration when they are acting in good faith and relying on factual information.

Challenges can only be mounted with specific information about an individual’s eligibility to vote. However, there are groups in Michigan seeking to misuse the challenge process by contesting hundreds of voters at a time. Benson’s guidance helps clerks deal with these issues and more.

Update:
On Aug. 28, 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the 2022 election manual guidance remain in place.