Your Mid-Week Headlines - Three/for/Three
- May 21
- 5 min read
Get ‘em while they’re hot!
Three stories/3-minute read
May 21, 2025
Michigan Legislators Hear from the High Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued an order on Monday, denying Michigan Legislators’ petition for a writ of certiorari, meaning the Court declined to review the lower courts’ decisions to dismiss the case.
The Michigan legislators’ case was among 108 other cases SCOTUS declined to review on Monday. Michigan Fair Elections Institute’s (MFEI) Founder and Chair Patrice Johnson put the decision in perspective. “We knew it was a long shot, but we wanted to make sure we exhausted every legal option.”
The Michigan legislators were arguing Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution (the Elections Clause) says state legislatures govern the time and manner of federal elections. Given that authority, the election-related state ballot measures passed in Michigan in 2018 and 2022 bypassed the state legislature and are therefore unconstitutional.
In his testimony before the Michigan House Election Integrity Committee on Tuesday, Erick Kaardal, who is representing the legislators, told the committee:
You don’t always win against the government in your first lawsuit. You might have to do a lawsuit, and a lawsuit, and a lawsuit . . . because the government gets to position itself in response to the complaint, and there might be things you don’t know and you have to move around; so I would take what happened in the Supreme Court yesterday as a step in the process.
Kaardal indicated his next legal move would be to take the case to the Michigan state court.
Kaardal’s 45-minute testimony on election-related litigation provided a comprehensive, national overview of the issues. Watch it here.
Ranked Choice Voting Petition Language Delayed
Rank MI Vote, the organization behind the push to get ranked choice voting (RCV) on the Michigan ballot for 2026, was still not ready to have the Board of State Canvassers (BOSC) review its petition language at the monthly BOSC meeting on Friday.
In February the organization announced an aggressive plan that included beginning a petition drive in May. Given the delay in having the petition language approved, the earliest Rank MI Vote can begin collecting names on a petition is July.
“We’ve been monitoring Rank MI Vote’s activities,” said Michigan Fair Elections Institute volunteer Darlene Hennessey. “We’ve been ready since March to oppose this ballot proposal. It’s just another way to complicate the election process. We’re going to make sure Michiganders understand what they’re in for with ranked choice voting.”
Want to know more about ranked choice voting? Check out our video tutorial. Want to volunteer to help oppose RCV? Email shortdog96@proton.me.
What a Way to Kick Off a Campaign!
On January 22, when Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced her campaign for governor in the lobby of a state-owned office building, she broke the law, a law to which there is no penalty attached.
Benson, a Democrat, is Michigan’s chief election officer. After the press conference in which Benson announced her run for governor, the Michigan Republican Party filed a complaint with the Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office alleging Benson had violated state election law.
Nessel, who is also a Democrat, turned the matter over to Joshua Booth, chief of her opinions division. According to the Detroit News, Booth determined that the press conference violated the Michigan Campaign Finance Act that bars public bodies from using their funds or office space to contribute to a candidate.
Bob LaBrant, a Michigan campaign finance lawyer told Election Law Blog, “It’s much ado about nothing.” He thinks a public reprimand is all that’s required.
State Rep. Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia) said, “Let’s be clear: Nessel only went about Benson to save face. This is a weak, last-ditch attempt to look fair after years of protecting her Democrat allies and targeting conservatives.”
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