Michigan Criminal Voting Challenges

Lawsuit filed by Priorities USA, Rise, Inc. and a local chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute challenging two Michigan voting restrictions: a voter transportation ban and an absentee ballot organizing and assistance ban. The complaint alleges that these laws create unreasonable burdens on the right to vote in violation of the First and 14th Amendments and Voting Rights Act (VRA). After the district court dismissed some of plaintiffs’ claims, intervening parties (the Michigan Legislature, Republican National Committee (RNC) and Michigan Republican Party) appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which dismissed the district court’s preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked the transportation ban. On Sept. 15, a district court judge granted the defendant’s and Republican intervenors’ motions for judgment on the pleadings, ruling that both the transportation ban and the absentee ballot organizing and assistance bans do not violate the First and 14th Amendments or Section 208 of the VRA.

Last updated: September 8, 2022 1:07 pm EST