Dems File Voter Intimidation Lawsuit Against Michigan GOP And Trump Camp

Emmet Bowen votes at the polling place at Pioneer High School, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan voters are deciding on a host of local and regional issues that are on the ballot during the primary ... Emmet Bowen votes at the polling place at Pioneer High School, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan voters are deciding on a host of local and regional issues that are on the ballot during the primary election.(Junfu Han/The Ann Arbor News via AP) MORE LESS
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The legal war Democrats have launched against the GOP and the Donald Trump campaign has expanded to Michigan, where the state Democratic party there filed a lawsuit Friday claiming that the Michigan Republican Party, the Trump campaign, former Trump adviser Roger Stone and his group Stop the Steal have engaged in voter intimidation tactics.

The complaint makes many of the same allegations found in the five other lawsuits mounted by state Democratic parties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and North Carolina this week. A separate legal case against the Republican National Committee is ongoing, with Democrats accusing the RNC of violating a decades-old consent decree limiting its participation in so-called “ballot security” initiatives.

The Michigan complaint includes mention of a 2008 DNC lawsuit accusing Republicans there of engaging in a new form of “caging,” referring to shady tactics operatives have used to create lists of voter registrations to challenge. The lawsuit also highlights the comments Trump and his surrogates have made specifically while in the state, encouraging his supporters to watch polling sites in places other than their own precincts.

Pointing out that the Trump campaign appears to be reliant on the Michigan GOP for its get-out-the-vote effort, the Democrats allege that Republicans there have focused their poll watching efforts on urban areas, with the suggestion that Democrats and minority voters are more likely to commit election fraud.


Additionally, the complaint used an affidavit from state GOP Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel filed in the RNC case — where the DNC had argued that a fundraising email quoting Romney McDaniel showed RNC involvement in prohibited activities — to allege in this suit that the Michigan Party was engaged in voter intimidation activities.

Read the complaint below:

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