Government

Michigan Secretary Of State Drop Kicks Trump Attempt To Overturn Vote

Counselor Thor strikes again!

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Missouri lawyer Mark “Thor” Hearne is having quite a week. On November 5, Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens refused to grant an injunction ordering Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to stop counting votes based on hearsay evidence.

His appeal to the Michigan Court of Appeals was rejected due to one or two minor filing discrepancies.

Oopsie!

In response to his complaint on behalf of the Trump campaign seeking to enjoin certification of the vote tally, the state just filed a motion that can be summarized as “Your ignorance of Michigan electoral law is evidence of stupidity, not fraud.”

And he’s probably going to get absolutely flayed by @RateMySkypeRoom.

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Maybe hiring a principal from True North Law, LLC in Saint Louis to spearhead its attempt to get the election results overturned in Michigan is a sign that the Trump campaign isn’t waging a serious legal effort here?

Last night, Hearne dropped the hammer on Secretary Benson and elections officials in Wayne County, which encompasses Detroit and its environs. The suit relies on affidavits from poll watchers alleging “irregularities” ranging from a truck full of ballots coming in the back door in the middle of the night to county employees “intimidating” observers by wearing Black Lives Matter clothing.

Reuters reporter Brad Heath stayed up all night tweeting the affidavits in this hilarious thread.

Hmmm, let’s check the tape, shall we?

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Even if the allegations were true, the affiants are mainly alleging insufficient access for poll observers, rather than actual fraud. Nonetheless, the Trump campaign is asking a federal court to enjoin Michigan from officially certifying the vote tally which would award the state’s 16 electoral college votes to Joe Biden based on his 150,000-vote margin of victory.

In response, the state defendants filed a scathing motion this morning denying most of the specific allegations and pointing out that the conduct complained of is largely in compliance with Michigan law.

To wit: Signature verification of absentee ballots takes place before tabulation at the county office, and poll observers were not entitled to re-verify during the count; The voter’s identifying information was already embedded in the barcode, and inputting a “placeholder” date of January 1, 1900 so the machine will process it is “a perfectly proper (and common) way to enter data in the database used to track voter information;” Duplicating a ballot is the standard procedure when a machine won’t read it due to creases or other defects; Absentee ballots weren’t “backdated,” they were verified based on the time stamps on the ballot envelopes; And the purported delivery of “unlocked” ballots late at night was a shipment of votes “which had been processed at the Department of Elections main office and then delivered to the TCF center.”

Moreover, all of this was explained to the 200-plus Republican observers who were present during the tabulation and could have lodged challenges at the time. Which they did not. Instead they waited until the race had been called and then started screaming  bloody murder about fraud in Detroit.

As the defendant’s response notes, the plaintiffs are both too late and too early — they’ve missed the window to contest the procedures for tabulation or the validity of any particular vote unchallenged during the count, and Michigan law allows a candidate to petition for a recount, but only after the Secretary of State certifies the tally.

Indeed, the defendants call bullshit on the whole endeavor, characterizing it as a blatant attempt to override the expressed will of the voters by delaying the certification and allowing the Michigan legislature to appoint its own slate of electors.

If this lawsuit achieved its stated goal of auditing the entire election process, it is virtually impossible to conceive of an outcome that could affect the result of the statewide election for president. Instead, there are two possible outcomes—(1) a delay so severe that Michigan loses its ability to appoint its electors in time to cast their votes; or (2) a process that gives credence to the conspiracy theories that call into question the integrity of our elections and undermine our democracy.

There’s also the small matter of the Trump campaign’s out-of-state counsel making a bizarre quo warranto claim.

Plaintiffs allege entitlement to the writ of quo warranto, pursuant to MCL § 600.4545. However, they fail to cite the relevant provision of the statute. Quo warranto under the statute is expressly limited to a challenge to claims of fraud or error for an election “at which there has been submitted any constitutional amendment, question, or proposition to the electors of the state or any county, township, or municipality thereof.” Plaintiffs do not, and cannot, raise or even mention a challenge to such a matter on the ballot. Thus, they cannot proceed

But other than that, well-played, Thor.

Quo warranto, laches, pro hac vice — DRINK!

Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

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