Court Of Claims judge: Mismatched absentee ballots cannot be counted

LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Michigan Court of Claims Judge Brock Swartzle has ruled that mismatched absentee ballots cannot be counted.

He says the ballots only count when the unique-identifying number on the ballot stub and the number on the envelope match.

The Michigan Republican Party, National Republican Party and Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry sued Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Elections Director Jonathan Brater in 2024, saying their guidance and rules about how to count absentee ballots should be rejected.

Benson had issued an instruction manual that called for election inspectors to verify the number on the ballot stub agrees with the ballot number on the return envelope.

If it didn’t, and “no explanation for the discrepancy can be found, the ballot must be processed as a challenged ballot.”