{"id":2496826,"date":"2025-10-09T08:18:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-the-dead-still-live-on-michigans-dirty-voter-rolls\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T08:20:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:20:02","slug":"lawsuit-the-dead-still-live-on-michigans-dirty-voter-rolls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-the-dead-still-live-on-michigans-dirty-voter-rolls\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit: The Dead Still Live On Michigan&#8217;s Dirty Voter Rolls"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawsuit-the-dead-still-live-on-michigans-dirty-voter-rolls%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2496826&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), an elections integrity watchdog, has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review Michigan&#8217;s failure to properly maintain its voter rolls, which reportedly include tens of thousands of deceased registrants. PILF challenges a Sixth Circuit court ruling that upheld the state&#8217;s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson&#8217;s claim of having made &#8220;reasonable efforts&#8221; to remove these names, arguing that the current process is inadequate and violates the National Voter registration act (NVRA). PILF&#8217;s investigation identified over 27,000 likely deceased voters on Michigan&#8217;s rolls, some deceased for decades, including one person supposedly born before Michigan became a state yet registered in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>Despite <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >state audits confirming similar issues<\/a>, Secretary Benson denies wrongdoing and criticizes lawsuits as attempts to undermine faith in elections. The article also highlights instances of noncitizen voting in Michigan&#8217;s 2024 election, which groups argue diminishes the votes of lawful citizens. PILF&#8217;s petition also urges the Supreme Court to resolve whether citizens and watchdogs have legal standing to sue over denied access to detailed voter roll data. The issue extends beyond Michigan, as similar problems have been found in other states like Maine. The watchdog calls for improved list-maintenance tools and greater accountability from election officials to ensure voter rolls are accurate and trustworthy.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>An elections integrity watchdog is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on leftist-led Michigan&rsquo;s dirty voter rolls, apparently filled with tens of thousands of dead registrants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Public Interest Legal Foundation <\/a>(PILF) has filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/25-Petition.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">petition<\/a> seeking review of the landmark <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/cases\/federal\/appellate-courts\/ca6\/24-1255\/24-1255-2025-05-06.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Public Interest Legal Foundation v. Jocelyn Benson<\/em><\/a>, which challenges the Wolverine State&rsquo;s refusal to clean up its voter rolls &mdash; a requirement under the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/crt\/national-voter-registration-act-1993-nvra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Voter Registration Act.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Reasonable Effort&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>PILF argues that the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals erred in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov\/opinions.pdf\/25a0116p-06.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruling<\/a> last year affirming a lower court opinion that found the Secretary of State&rsquo;s office has made &ldquo;reasonable efforts&rdquo; to properly remove the names of deceased individuals from Michigan&rsquo;s voter rolls. The case aims to clarify what a &ldquo;reasonable effort&rdquo; in the face of evidence that Michigan&rsquo;s limited list-maintenance program&rsquo;s design &ldquo;virtually guarantees that thousands of deceased voters remain on the rolls.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Michigan&rsquo;s refusal to act on overwhelming evidence of deceased registrants violates federal law,&rdquo; said Kaylan Phillips, PILF&rsquo;s legal counsel for the case. &ldquo;The NVRA requires states to make efforts that keep the rolls accurate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>PILF&rsquo;s analysis of Michigan&rsquo;s voter list <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/press\/pilf-appeals-michigan-voter-roll-clean-up-lawsuit-to-six-circuit-court-of-appeals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">identified<\/a> more than 27,000 likely deceased individuals registered to vote. Some of those former citizens of the living have been dead for decades, according to the complaint. Of the suspect registrants, <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/press\/pilf-appeals-michigan-voter-roll-clean-up-lawsuit-to-six-circuit-court-of-appeals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nearly 4,000<\/a> have been dead for at least 20 years, PILF found. Throughout the legal challenges, the foundation sent Michigan&rsquo;s far-left secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, obituaries and gravestones of many of the deceased registrants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One individual registered to vote was apparently born in 1823 &mdash; some 14 years before Michigan became a state. The person was registered to vote in 2008. It&rsquo;s either an invalid registration or state elections officials have some trouble entering basic data, the foundation&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/press\/pilf-appeals-michigan-voter-roll-clean-up-lawsuit-to-six-circuit-court-of-appeals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">investigation<\/a> mused.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Foundation said its findings were consistent with state audits showing similar problems, but Benson has &ldquo;repeatedly declined to investigate or release records explaining how the state maintains its voter rolls.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>&lsquo;Diminishing the Voice&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>Benson, who is running for governor, celebrated last year&rsquo;s victory in court, noting the Sixth Circuit&rsquo;s assertion that &ldquo;Michigan&rsquo;s multi-layered efforts are more than reasonable.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Michigan has done more in the last six years to improve the accuracy of our voter rolls than was done in the previous two decades,&rdquo; Benson said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/sos\/resources\/news\/2025\/05\/06\/federal-court-affirms-that-michigans-work-to-remove-deceased-voters-from-state-rolls-is\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">statement<\/a>. She bemoaned &ldquo;a record number of lawsuits based on false and meritless claims meant to undermine people&rsquo;s faith in Michigan&rsquo;s elections.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The highly partisan Benson and her office have done <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox2detroit.com\/news\/michigan-house-sues-jocelyn-benson-over-election-training-materials\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more than enough<\/a> on their own to erode faith in Michigan&rsquo;s elections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In June, the U.S. Attorney&rsquo;s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-edmi\/pr\/chinese-national-university-michigan-charged-illegally-voting-2024-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">charged<\/a> a foreign national from communist China with making false claims to register to vote and voting as a noncitizen. State prosecutors had previously <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/10\/30\/politics\/michigan-chinese-citizen-charged-after-illegally-voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">charged<\/a> the man, who subsequently fled the United States. The Chinese student voted at the University of Michigan, one of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/sos\/resources\/news\/2025\/04\/03\/michigan-department-of-state-review-confirms-instances-of-noncitizen-voting-are-extremely-rare\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">at least 16<\/a> foreign nationals in the state that apparently voted in November&rsquo;s election.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When a non&#8209;citizen casts a ballot &mdash; like all those we know did in Michigan&rsquo;s 2024 General Election &mdash; it cancels out the vote of a lawful U.S. citizen, diminishing the voice of those who are legally eligible to participate,&rdquo; Michigan&rsquo;s Citizens Only Voting initiative <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michcov.com\/our-petition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">states<\/a> on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michcov.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website.<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Open Up<\/h2>\n<p>The Public Interest Legal Foundation&rsquo;s petition also asks the Supreme Court to resolve a growing split among federal circuit courts on the question of whether citizens and watchdog groups have standing to file lawsuits after illegally being denied access to voter roll records.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Michigan&rsquo;s dirty voter rolls are just the tip of the iceberg.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, PILF identified more than 18,000 apparently deceased registrations on Maine&rsquo;s voter rolls.&nbsp;The review followed the foundation&rsquo;s<a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/press\/pilf-to-maine-we-see-dead-people-on-your-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> court victory<\/a> that forced Maine&rsquo;s Secretary of State office to open up its voter rolls to inspection, a right guaranteed under Section of 8 of the National Voter Registration Act. The office of leftist Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who unsuccessfully tried to keep then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump off the state&rsquo;s primary ballot, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/05\/maines-reckless-secretary-of-state-admits-some-noncitizens-are-on-states-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">flagged PILF<\/a> and other watchdogs &ldquo;for government staff to discredit and attack on social media.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Other emails <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/reports\/pilf-insights-maine-secretary-of-state-aide-collaborated-to-smear-west-virginia-secretary-of-state-over-h-r-1-s-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">show <\/a>coordination with left-wing advocacy groups to portray PILF and even other sitting Secretaries of State as purveyors of disinformation in the lead-up to congressional hearings,&rdquo; the foundation <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/press\/pilf-to-maine-we-see-dead-people-on-your-voter-rolls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">noted <\/a>in a press release.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The election integrity watchdog&rsquo;s petition for review also asks the Supreme Court to weigh in on a key question: Whether voters have the right to hold election officials accountable when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-york-times-is-very-uncomfortable-with-citizen-oversight-of-elections\/\" title=\"NYT Disapproves of Election Oversight by ...\">voter roll maintenance standards<\/a> are ignored.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Michigan has access to data, but isn&rsquo;t using it effectively,&rdquo; said J. Christian Adams, president of PILF. &ldquo;Other states are adopting modern list-maintenance tools to identify duplicate and deceased voters quickly. Michigan should as well.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-knew-100-percent-he-was-fighting-for-the-little-guy-former-top-trump-economic-adviser\/\" title=\"Trump Knew \u2018100 Percent\u2019 He Was \u2018Fighting for the Little Guy\u2019: Former Top Trump Economic Adviser\">award-winning investigative reporter<\/a> and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Watchdog urges Supreme Court to review Michigan&#8217;s flawed voter rolls<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2496828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-08-at-11.15.12-PM-1024x565.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[40666,32644,4585,4601,32643],"class_list":["post-2496826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-dead-voters","tag-election-integrity","tag-lawsuit","tag-michigan","tag-voter-rolls"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-08-at-11.15.12-PM-1024x565.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2496826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2496830,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2496826\/revisions\/2496830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2496828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2496826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2496826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2496826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}