(The Center Square) – Michigan’s Bureau of Elections has asked Michigan’s Court of Claims to dismiss a Michigan Fair Elections Institute’s lawsuit seeking absentee ballot information.
The bureau stated in its motion to dismiss that it does not maintain the absentee voter records the institute is seeking, saying that they are instead “kept and maintained by local clerks.”
Deputy Director of Elections Adam Fracassi discussed in a sworn affidavit the Freedom of Information Act request, which he said the bureau was unable to fulfill.
“The bureau does not receive or maintain these records,” Fracassi said. “Therefore, the bureau does not believe it has records responsive to this request, which is why the bureau denied the FOIA request.”
MFEI filed the request for information in October, after the bureau redesigned a standard report called the “Entire State Next Elections Voted List.” In the new report, it gave only summarizations of data instead of the underlying data.
Patrice Johnson, founder and chairperson of MFEI, explained that the institute believes the bureau is intentionally misinterpreting the FOIA request.
“The information the state provided quoted sum totals. We are simply asking to see how things add up,” Johnson said. “If they claim the answer is 4, we have a right to see if they added 2 plus 2, 1 plus 3, or 0 plus 4. Nobody would accept a bank statement that only gives totals.”
Tom Lambert, the attorney representing MFEI, said the state’s focus on physical documents instead of the information requested is part of a bigger issue with a lack of transparency from the bureau.
“BOE could have reached out for clarification of the request, but instead they immediately denied the request in full,” Lambert said. “The focus of the dispute is on what is a reasonable interpretation of MFEI’s FOIA request.”
The MBE is asking the Michigan Court of Claims to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice. That means the case is dismissed permanently, preventing the institute from refiling.
The MFEI has already said it would appeal a dismissal.
“Government transparency and accountability are what divide a free nation from a totalitarian state,” Johnson said.
