Michigan GOP chair, others fined $58K for lawsuit to reject absentee ballots

The chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party and others have been ordered to pay a $58,000 fine following an unsuccessful lawsuit that would have had thousands of ballots in the state’s midterm elections invalidated in November. 

The Detroit Free Press reported that Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny issued an order on Monday ruling that the lawsuit was “frivolous” and that those who brought the case and defended it should cover costs and attorney’s fees for the Detroit clerk’s office. 

The fine was directed to Michigan GOP Chair Kristina Karamo, who lost an election for Michigan secretary of state in November; Daniel Hartman, who reportedly serves as counsel for the state party; and Alexandria Taylor, who is running as a Republican for the state’s open seat in the U.S. Senate.

Election observers who denied the results of the 2020 election and other plaintiffs also were directed to help pay the fine.

Karamo’s lawsuit was dismissed right before Election Day in November. The lawsuit would have changed Detroit’s voting practices to require voters to either cast their ballot in person or obtain an absentee ballot in person. 

Kenny noted in dismissing the ruling that many absentee ballots had already been cast before Karamo filed the lawsuit and argued that ruling in her favor would disenfranchise tens of thousands of eligible voters. He slammed the lawsuit for failing to “produce any shred of evidence.” 

“Plaintiffs’ failure to produce any evidence that the procedures for this November 8th election violate state or federal election law demonizes the Detroit City Clerk, her office staff, and the 1,200 volunteers working this election,” Kenny ruled at the time. “These claims are unjustified, devoid of any evidentiary basis and cannot be allowed to stand.” 

The state constitution protects voters’ right to cast their ballots by mail. 

"Plaintiffs merely threw out the allegation of 'corruption in Detroit' as the reason for disregarding the Michigan Constitution in this state’s largest city," Kenny reportedly said in the order Monday. "A blanket assertion of corruption does not overturn a Michigan Constitutional provision." 

The Hill has reached out to Karamo for comment. 

Karamo, who refused to concede defeat to incumbent Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D), was elected chair of the state Republican Party in February. 

Taylor told the Free Press that the ruling is a “miscarriage of justice” and argued Kenny set the lawsuit up to fail because of limitations placed on arguments. 

“This is why people don’t trust the judicial system,” she said. 

Hartman declined to comment to the Free Press.