Complaint claims Jocelyn Benson misrepresented facts to keep RFK Jr. on Michigan ballot

Michigan’s top elections official, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is the subject of a bar complaint over her department’s actions to uphold the name of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., on the ballot.

State Sen. Ruth Johnson, a Republican who immediately preceded Benson as secretary of state, filed a bar complaint alleging that Benson manipulated procedures to undermine the Nov. 5 election.

Michigan is one of the most hotly contested battleground states. Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican, are separated by just one percentage point, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.

Johnson’s formal complaint to the State Bar of Michigan claims that Benson told numerous courts that there was a legal deadline to finalize the list of candidates for the state’s ballot. However, according to the complaint, Benson ignored his own deadline to keep Kennedy’s name on the ballot.

Before Kennedy suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump, polls showed he probably got more votes from Trump than from Harris. So keeping Kennedy on the ballot in Michigan would likely help Harris in the swing state. (Kennedy chose to remain registered on the ballot in other states.)

Johnson’s complaint, filed Oct. 11 with the Attorney Grievance Commission of the State Bar of Michigan, says Benson violated Rule 3.3 by knowingly making false statements to the court. According to the complaint, Benson’s arguments were repeatedly based on misrepresentations of the law as she defended her department’s administration of elections.

“As noted above, Benson’s conduct constitutes a misrepresentation of the law. However, in his official capacity as Secretary of State, Benson’s formulation of state laws to further his purpose is misleading in nature,” Johnson’s complaint reads. “Benson’s decision to reinstate a candidate on a ballot, after his name has been removed, after the ballots have been certified, and after the statutory deadline has expired, constitutes an abuse of authority as a Secretary of State, resulting in manipulation of state election procedures and summons. questioning his political priorities.

Rule 3.3 of the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct states that “a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact or law to a court or fail to correct a false statement of material fact or law previously made to the court by the lawyer. »

Kennedy, previously a Democrat, suspended his independent bid for president in August and informed several state election officials, including in Michigan, that he wanted to be removed from the ballot.

The Michigan Bureau of Elections, an entity of the Michigan Department of State, refused to remove Kennedy’s name from the ballot. So Kennedy filed a lawsuit.

The case went to the Michigan courts, which decided to keep Kennedy’s name on the ballot. He appealed to federal court.

Earlier this month, Judge David William McKeague of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled that Benson attempted “to influence the upcoming presidential election by manipulating the state’s election procedures.”

Johnson’s bar complaint quotes the federal judge as saying, “Secretary Benson’s actions…serve no purpose other than to sow unnecessary confusion in a presidential election,” “would inevitably cause confusion and …would undermine confidence in this fundamental democratic institution.”

The Republican National Committee has already filed lawsuits against Benson’s election boards over issues including signature verification and mail-in voting safeguards, and for failing to scrub voter registration lists of deceased people’s names or voters who have moved.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation sued Michigan over Benson’s refusal to remove the names of 26,000 deceased people from voter registration lists. Among them, nearly 4,000 had been dead for more than two decades; 17,479 have died for more than a decade; 23,663 had been dead for at least five years.

The foundation, an elections watchdog group, noted that Benson’s department mismanaged voter rolls. However, she publicly defended her department.

A spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State did not respond to The Daily Signal at the time of publication.