Michigan Supreme Court Reinstates Jocelyn Bensons Election Guidance Manual

The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday allowed local election clerks to use new poll challenger guidelines issued by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in the form of a manual, which a judge had previously found to violate the law.

The high court’s ruling temporarily stops an Oct. 20 ruling by a Michigan Court of Claims judge that found Benson, a Democrat, had “exceeded [her] authority” in certain parts of a new election manual published in May.

That Michigan judge’s now-paused order had blocked Benson’s new manual, which required increased credentialing for poll challengers and banned personal electronic devices in absentee counting boards.

The case, which made its way to Michigan’s highest court, will now be determined in a final ruling that will come after the midterm elections, while it waits to go through an appeals process.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein, a Democratic appointee, found there were “clearly significant legal issues at play,” but it wouldn’t be feasible to review the case “in the time left before Election Day.”

The ruling is a loss for the plaintiffs who on Wednesday asked the Michigan Court of Claims to declare Benson in contempt of court for noncompliance with an Oct. 20 court order.

Benson was previously accused of noncompliance with a court order in another case when she failed to convince a judge to dismiss a case that could force her to remove over 25,000 deceased people from Michigan’s voter rolls…. (Excerpt from Your News.com)