The Republican National Committee is back with another lawsuit alleging city officials, this time in Detroit, did not hire enough Republican election workers to help with the upcoming presidential election.
The lawsuit calls for the city to appoint at least one election inspector from each major political party and "an equal number, as nearly as possible" in each precinct, and to implement a number of procedures for future elections that would identify an equal number of inspectors from both parties. The RNC previously sued Flint for a similar matter, claiming the city violated Michigan election law, but a judge dismissed the case.
"Every single Michigander should have full confidence in the integrity of our elections and the security of their vote, and shady actions like refusing to hire an equal number of Republican poll workers has the opposite effect. This suit will help protect our right to free, fair, and transparent elections," Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra said in a statement.
According to the lawsuit, 200 Detroit precincts did not have a Republican election inspector.
Messages were left for City Clerk Janice Winfrey and Council President Mary Sheffield, who run the Election Commission, along with Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett.
"The Law Department is not commenting on this pending litigation," according to a statement from the mayor's office.
Michigan election law requires that commissioners "shall appoint at least one election inspector from each major political party and shall appoint an equal number, as nearly as possible, of election inspectors in each election precinct from each major political party."
The lawsuit alleges the city's election commission appointed 2,337 Democrats and 310 Republican inspectors. Of the 675 Republicans nominated, 52 are among the 310 Republican inspectors. The RNC asks that the commission follows its "clear legal duty" to appoint an equal number of workers no later than Oct. 15, ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
“Detroit’s failure to hire Republican poll workers is the kind of bad-faith Democrat interference that drives down faith in elections. The RNC is bringing suit to remedy this completely unacceptable breach of public trust and our unprecedented election integrity campaign will continue to fight in Michigan and nationwide to protect the rights of every voter to have fair, accurate, secure and transparent elections," according to a statement from RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump.
Voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to register and cast their ballot at the city clerk’s office. Polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5.
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Republicans sue Detroit for hiring more Democratic election inspectors than Republicans
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