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Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson notched a major victory this week when a federal appeals court held the Trump administration does not have the right to demand unredacted voter rolls in its campaign to root out rare instances of noncitizens casting ballots.
Wednesday’s 2-1 decision by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1960 does not authorize the federal government to demand non-public voter information from states. Michigan is the lead plaintiff in the case.
Following the decision, Benson said there is no legitimate reason to share unredacted voter records that include birthdates, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers with the federal government.
"The law cannot be any clearer– states run elections, the federal government is not entitled to Michigan voters’ personal data, and the president cannot change election law with the stroke of a pen," said Benson in a statement.
The Sixth Circuit is the highest court yet to uphold a state’s right to refuse to comply with the presidential executive order. It would be no surprise for this decision to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. It actually would be surprising if it isn’t appealed to the high court.
And the Trump administration signaled that it plans to challenge the decision. A federal judge in Massachusetts also ruled in a separate case this week that the U.S. Postal Service cannot refuse to deliver mail-in ballots to addresses not on a federal list of approved voters. That decision is also a big deal in Michigan, where mail-in ballots are a popular option under a 2018 amendment to the state constitution.
While not sharing specific plans, a White House spokesperson said the appeals court ruling will not be the final word in the case.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of our elections,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson in an email to Rick. “The President’s executive order lawfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation.”
The Trump administration wants the voter rolls - including the non-public records - to help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security check voters’ citizenship status.
Deputy Michigan Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie said the state already checks citizenship status when people are registered when they get their driver’s licenses. Local clerks are also supposed to do that when they register a voter. Edevbie said the state also does regular audits of voter rolls to cull registrations of dead, dormant or ineligible voters.
He said the audit in 2024 found citizenship issues with 16 people out of 5.7 million voters. The cases were referred to the Michigan Attorney General for review.
“So, the system really does secure people’s citizenship and on top of that, after every election cycle we do go back and do audits to give the people and our department that reassurance that we did not have non-citizens voting in our elections,” he said.
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What we’re talking about at the dinner table
Trump endorses James: As absentee ballots go out, President Trump endorsed Republican Congressman John James’ bid to become Michigan’s next governor this week. Trump praised James in a social media post, saying the Congressman is an Iraq war veteran who will fight tirelessly to grow the economy and support Michigan workers. Shortly after the post, Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt said he was suspending his campaign and joined President Trump in endorsing John James, saying it was time for Republicans to unite behind a candidate.
Budget breakthrough: There seems to be a breakthrough in budget negotiations at the state Capitol as the House, the Senate and Governor Gretchen Whitmer have reached an agreement on broad spending targets in the next budget. Those agreements must now be further refined into budget bills to be voted on by next week if the Legislature is to meet the July 1 deadline set in state law (the Legislature blew past that timeline last year). The spending targets agreement allows budget subcommittee chairs to start hammering out spending agreements on K-12 schools, community colleges and public universities and funding for state departments. The fact that there is a consensus on those targets is very good news, said Jennifer Smith, legislative director of the Michigan Association of School Boards. “We are cautiously optimistic,” she told Rick. “A framework is definitely a positive step in the right direction. We’re still waiting on spending amounts and details, but we hope that this means we’re going to be able to get something done by June 30th.”
Data center rally: A few dozen data center opponents called on lawmakers to pause new project approvals during a rally in Lansing Tuesday evening. “Many are concerned about data centers’ massive resource needs, and that Michiganders could be left to clean up if they become obsolete. A bipartisan bill package would pause new data center projects until April next year. Still, legislative leadership on both sides of the political aisle has signaled more willingness for data center regulation than prohibition, even in the short term,” Michigan Public Radio Network’s Colin Jackson reports.
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Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
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We’re launching a new limited-time video and newsletter series hosted by Michigan Public’s Dustin Dwyer.
He’ll answer questions from “Why we have midterms” to “If I’m a MSU fan, do I really have to vote for U of M regents?” Join him in your inbox every other Monday at 10 a.m.
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Until the next newsletter,
The Michigan Public Newsletter team
