Republicans sue for more poll watchers in key Michigan city

By Brentin Mock

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FILE - A Republican election challenger at right watches over election inspectors as they examine a ballot as votes are counted into the early morning hours, Nov. 4, 2020, at the central counting board in Detroit. Election officials across the country are bracing for a wave of confrontations in November as emboldened Republican poll watchers, many embracing former President Donald Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, flood polling places for the general election. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

Republicans are suing election officials in a key Michigan city, claiming they’re disproportionately appointing Democratic election inspectors while rejecting Republican applicants. 

The effort could be a sign that the GOP plans to try to inject chaos into Michigan’s voting or counting process, as it did in 2020.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in a Michigan court by the Republican National Committee and the state GOP, claims that election officials in Lansing violated a requirement that they appoint an equal number of Democratic and Republican inspectors, or close to it, for each precinct.

They also claim that city officials denied a member of the state party access to the election inspector applications to examine if Republicans had been equally considered. 

Election administrators often struggle to find enough people to serve as poll workers. And finding equal numbers of poll workers from each party can be difficult in areas where voters of one party outnumber the other. Rigorous training and appointment standards are crucial for hiring poll workers.

Michigan will host pivotal races for Senate and governor this fall, and Lansing is the state’s sixth-largest city. In 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris won 64% of the presidential vote in Ingham County, which contains Lansing.  

Neither Lansing election officials nor the Michigan Democratic Party immediately responded to requests for comment.

But Michigan Republicans in the past have tried to use poll monitors to promote false allegations about fraud in the voting and counting process. 

In 2020, an angry crowd of observers gathered at an election center in Detroit as workers counted ballots, and false claims of fraud spread online. President Donald Trump later invoked the scene to bolster his case that the election was stolen from him.

Two poll challengers filed a lawsuit claiming they’d seen irregularities in the Detroit count. It was quickly rejected by a judge, who ruled they “did not have a full understanding of the vote counting process.”

Election inspectors in Michigan are responsible for several duties, ranging from manning early voting and election-day polling places to helping manage absentee ballots. 

By state law, counties are required to appoint an equal – or “as nearly [equal] as possible” – number of inspectors from both major political parties.

According to the lawsuit filed Friday, Lansing’s election inspector breakdown is as follows:

  • 140 Democrats, 71 Republicans, 3 Libertarians for election day polling places
  • 28 Democrats, 16 Republicans for early voting polling places
  • 15 Democrats, 11 Republicans for the receiving board (responsible for processing and reviewing absentee voter ballot return envelopes before they are sent to absentee voter counting boards for tabulation)
  • 20 Democrats, 22 Republicans for absentee voter count boards.

The Republicans are asking the court to order the city to appoint more Republican inspectors ahead of the general election, and to grant the party access to examining election inspector applications.