In yet another major victory for election integrity warriors and government transparency, the Michigan Court of Claims just slammed the brakes on the Michigan Bureau of Elections’ blatant attempt to hide how voters actually cast their ballots.
In anOpinion and Order Granting Summary Disposition to Plaintiff, Court of Claims Judge Christopher P. Yates ruled in favor of longtime election integrity advocatePhani Mantravadi, Founder of Check My Vote,in his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
The fight was over the Bureau’s sudden decision in March 2024 to beginredacting the all-important “Voting Type” columnfrom the Qualified Voter File (QVF). This column shows whether each voter cast their ballot onElection Day (ED),Early In-Person (EV), or byAbsentee ballot (A).
For years, this critical information was publicly available. Then, under Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Bureau quietly started stripping it out — claiming it was necessary to protect the “secret ballot.”
Judge Christopher Yates, whom Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals, wasn’t buying Benson’s story about why they need to hide the truth about the type of voting used by each voter in Michigan elections.
The Court ruled that thevast majorityof voting-type informationmust be releasedto the public under FOIA. The judge made it crystal clear that the Bureau failed to prove any valid FOIA exemption or constitutional reason to blanket-redact this data for every voter in the entire state. He noted that limited redaction might be justified only in extremely rare cases involving very small precincts.
“The Court agrees with plaintiff that the vast majority of voting-type information should be publicly available because such disclosure will not compromise the constitutional right of electors to cast a secret ballot.”
Judge Yates also rejected the Bureau’s attempt to use the FOIA privacy exemption, pointing out that voting-type information has long been considered public in Michigan and isnot“information of a personal nature.”
In 2024, Judge Yates ruled against Jocelyn Benson in another case that was a huge win for election integrity in Michigan.
BREAKING: A Michigan judge just ruled that the Democrat Secretary of State’s election manual issued to local election officials is unconstitutional & against state law. He is also mandating strict signature verification for mail in votes in the upcoming 2024 election
Source: The Gateway Pundit
