A veterans group has responded to a lawsuit backed by Donald Trump‘s campaign that is attempting to change voter registration areas in Michigan, calling the move “frankly insulting.”
The lawsuit was filed in July by the Republican National Committee and the Trump Campaign against Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, accusing her of overstepping her authority by turning several Michigan centers, including the Detroit Michigan Department of Veterans Affairs office, into voter registration agencies in 2023.
They allege that allowing voter registration at those sites is illegal, and selective. “Under Michigan law, the authority to make such designations is held solely by the Legislature,” the filing said, per NBC reporting.
The Vet Voice Foundation, which is an arm of the progressive veterans groups VoteVets, and Priorities USA, a Democratic campaign group, have backed Whitmer’s defense. Both organizations initially asked to be a party in the case, however were denied that request in August 2024. They jointly filed an amicus brief on September 27.
A press release announcing the filing released by Priorities USA on September 30, said that the suit is “meritless.”
“The individuals providing [voter registration] services are strictly prohibited from partisan activities and from conditioning other services or benefits on either registering or not registering to vote,” it read. “By aiming to eliminate voter registration at VA and SBA offices, this case threatens to remove a critical avenue for voter registration for Vet Voice Foundation’s members, as well as other Michiganders who wish to register to vote.”
Vet Voice Foundation has been contacted via email for comment.
Janessa Goldbeck, CEO of Vet Voice Foundation, said in the same press release: “This case is meritless and frankly insulting to those who’ve sacrificed in defense of America.”
Goldbeck said the case is an attempt to stop veterans from registering to vote.
The GOP’s Election Integrity Communications team has been contacted for comment via email.
The Trump Campaign and RNC were contacted via email outside of work hours.
The original court filing, obtained by NBC, argues that, “The RNC and its members are concerned that Defendants’ failure to comply with Michigan statutes governing VRA designation undermines the integrity of elections by increasing the opportunity for individuals to register to vote even though they are ineligible to do so, and by sowing confusion regarding whether the agencies purporting to offer assistance in registering voters are doing so in accordance with applicable law.”
Online and by mail voter registration ends in Michigan on October 21. Voters can also register on the day of the election at their polling place.
Jonathan Diaz, the director of voting advocacy and partnerships at Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan legal organization focused on the democratic process, told Newsweek the case is “consistent with [the RNC’s] general opposition to expanding voter registration opportunities, particularly when federal agencies are involved.”
One such case is being led by Kansas Attorney General (AG) Kris Kobach and Montana AG Austin Knudsen. They are suing the Biden Administration over its executive order which enables federal agencies to help register residents to vote in the courts.
This is same executive order that enabled Whitmer to expand voter registration to VA sites.
The AGs involved in the suit, filed on August 9, argue Biden’s executive order violates and undermines the power vested in states to control their own elections, and empowers the current Democratic White House to sway voters to the left.
Per the Daily Montanan, Knudsen previously said of the suit: “I will not stand by while the Biden-Harris administration attempts to shamelessly garner votes by employing its own agencies to register voters and disregard states’ own voter registration systems, putting the integrity of our elections at risk.”
The Biden Administration was contacted via email outside of work hours.
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