Judge Rules Against Michigan’s Absentee Ballot Signature Presumption Rule

A Michigan court ruled against the state’s top election officials’ recommendations for assessing the validity of absentee ballots in what Republicans are calling a victory for election integrity. On June 12, Judge Christopher Yates ruled that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Director of Elections Jonathan Brater didn’t follow the state’s election laws when they issued rules presuming signatures attached to absentee ballot applications and submissions were valid. The order granted partial declaratory relief to the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and others involved in the case Judge Yates, a Michigan appellate judge also serving in the limited-jurisdiction Court of Claims, wrote in his opinion that the initial presumption of validity in signature verification of absentee ballot applications and envelopes mandated by a December 2023 guidance manual is “incompatible with the Constitution and laws of the State of Michigan.”...