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MI Court of Claims won’t toss Trump ballot case

FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Summerville, S.C., Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. As his Republican rivals gather on stage in California for their second primary debate, former President Donald Trump will be in battleground Michigan Wednesday night working to win over blue collar voters in the midst of an autoworkers’ strike. (AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr., File)
Artie Walker Jr./AP
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FR171867 AP
FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Summerville, S.C., Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. As his Republican rivals gather on stage in California for their second primary debate, former President Donald Trump will be in battleground Michigan Wednesday night working to win over blue collar voters in the midst of an autoworkers’ strike. (AP Photo/Artie Walker Jr., File)

The Michigan Court of Claims has refused throw out a lawsuit that seeks to keep Donald Trump off the Michigan presidential ballot.

In an order signed Wednesday, Judge James Redford also denied a request by the former President to become a direct party to the case. That’s because the lawsuit isn’t against Trump — instead, it pits four voters against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in her role as Michigan’s top election official.

The voters say Benson must refuse to put Trump’s name on the ballot under the insurrection clause of the U.S. Constitution. They say he should be automatically disqualified because he is culpable for violating the clause by his encouragement of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Benson, a Democrat, has said she won’t keep Trump off the Michigan presidential primary ballot without a court order.

Redford said Trump’s legal filings make no argument on how the court has the authority to let him join the legal action. Redford gave the Trump campaign until this coming Monday to file additional arguments.

But Redford also said, no matter what, Trump’s attorneys will be allowed to file a friend of the court brief representing his perspective. Trump’s attorney and the Michigan Republican Party had no immediate comment.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987.
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