DETROIT — Michigan’s biggest city hasn’t met its legal duty to hire roughly equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans as election inspectors, the local, state and national GOP argue in a lawsuit filed Friday.
The 14-page complaint in state court notes that under Michigan law, election officials in Detroit and elsewhere “shall appoint an equal number, as nearly as possible, of election inspectors in each election precinct from each major political party.” Fox News first reported the lawsuit.
But Republicans are outnumbered 7 to 1 at last count.
Motor City has 2,337 Democratic poll watchers and just 310 Republicans. In a sample of 335 precincts in Wayne County, the suit alleges, 202 were found to have no Republican poll watchers at all.
Republicans are a rarity in Detroit. No Republican has held elected office in the city in three decades, since City Councilman Keith Butler in the 1990s.
But the lawsuit says GOP numbers are low for a reasonL City officials have failed to follow up with and hire viable Republicans.
It says that Paula Gnacke-Nemeth, then-chair of a Wayne County congressional district, submitted to election officials a list of 675 possible Republicans who could serve. Under Michigan law, party officials can submit such lists to help election officials meet their legal duty.
Among the 310 Republican poll watchers, the suit notes, only 52 were chosen from the Gnacke-Nemeth list.
The Detroit Election Commission is a three-member board comprised of Janice Winfrey, Detroit’s city clerk; Mary Sheffield, city council president; and Conrad Mallett, corporation counsel for the city.
The lawsuit asks that Wayne County Circuit Court intervene and order officials to meet their legal obligations.
The post GOP grossly outnumbered among Detroit poll watchers, 7 to 1: lawsuit appeared first on New York Post.
