(The Center Square) – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says President Donald Trump cannot change Michigan election law and is joining a lawsuit to stop a recent executive order.
Trump recently signed an order changing federal voting registration requirements and stopping states from counting mailed ballots that are postmarked on or before election day but arrive after the election.
Eighteen states allow those ballots to be counted.
Nessel and 18 other states have filed a lawsuit to stop those and other election-related changes, saying only the states and Congress can decide election rules. It’s the fourth separate lawsuit challenging the same order.
They want a Massachusetts court to block the changes and declare them unconstitutional.
“Not only is Donald Trump’s executive order unconstitutional and undemocratic, it unilaterally disrupts elections in our state, undermining the electoral process for millions of Michigan voters,” Nessel said. “The president has no authority to direct or control our state voting laws, many of which are enshrined in our state Constitution. The White House cannot be permitted to undermine the will and the rights of Michiganders or keep us from legally casting our ballots under state election laws.”
Trump’s order includes a provision requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote but does not list a birth certificate as one of the documents that can be used as proof.
Trump has threatened states that don’t comply with the loss of federal funds and potential action from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Trump has said the changes are necessary to stop fraud.
On Thursday, Michigan Secretary of State Joycelyn Benson released results of a review of Michigan motor vehicle records compared to voting records that showed 15 people who may be non-U.S. citizens voted in the 2024 general election.
Benson referred 13 of those to Nessel for potential criminal charges, while one is still being investigated, and one person has died.
The 15 votes were part of 5.7 million in Michigan in the 2024 presidential election, or 0.00028% of the total votes cast.
“This is a serious issue, one we must address with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer,” Benson said. “Only U.S. citizens can legally register and vote in our elections. Our careful review confirms what we already knew – that this illegal activity is very rare. While we take all violations of election law very seriously, this tiny fraction of potential cases in Michigan and at the national level do not justify recent efforts to pass laws we know would block tens of thousands of Michigan citizens from voting in future elections.”
