Court Tosses Garbage Vote Suppression Lawsuit In Michigan Brought By Woman Who Wants To Be In Charge Of Votes

Let the fuckery begin.

Friends, shit is about to get really, really stupid. We are about to witness an absolute avalanche of bad faith litigation seeking to throw out votes in cities and majority Black districts across this country. Republicans know they are a minority party, they know their policies suck, and they know that the only way they're going to hold onto power is through gerrymandering and vote suppression. And when they lose, they have no compunction about lying and claiming Democrats rigged it. You know this is coming, so gird your loins — and contribute to places like the ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense Fund who fight this shit in court.

But sometimes, the good guys do win, as they did yesterday in Michigan, where Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Kenny issued a withering smackdown of a suit brought by Kristina Karamo, a MAGO loon running for secretary of state, who sued to invalidate as many votes as possible in Detroit.

The case, which wasn't filed until October 26, was batshit from the jump. The plaintiffs demanded that the court toss out many of the absentee ballots already cast and impose onerous restrictions on the counting of ballots. There was zero evidence cited of actual fraud or violation of Michigan law, but ...

The 2000 Mules video and other videos show that felony delivery of ballots to the drop boxes was routinely captured but there have been no prosecutions reported for the persons in Detroit who brought multiple ballots to the drop box.

Fuckin' Dinesh! Again! 

The plaintiffs sought first to disqualify all Wayne County Circuit Court judges on the theory that they work closely with the Wayne County Clerk supervising elections, and are therefore biased. The only problem with that is that (a) it's bullshit, and (b) the Wayne County Clerk isn't the defendant here, since the plaintiffs sued Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey in an attempt to impose extra-legal restrictions on the most populous, Democratic city — and only that city. Winfrey has moved for sanctions , seeking attorneys' fees for the time spent dealing with the frivolous disqualification motion.

Perhaps mindful that the Big Lie was sustained for two years by liars claiming they'd been booted for lack of standing or procedural defects before having the merits of their case heard in court, Judge Kenny spent the entirety of November 3 conducting an evidentiary hearing in the case, and provided the morning of November 4 for closing arguments. And even given all of that runway, the plaintiffs still managed to introduce zero evidence of actual harm. They couldn't even articulate clearly what they wanted the court to give them, making the bizarre claim that "The understanding of all parties was that Plaintiffs would present testimony from the Detroit officials about the November 8, 2022 election processes and the equipment used to conduct the election, and then the Court would review the claimed violations of law and rule whether the procedures or equipment were in violation of the law. If so, then the court would consider an argument on how to remedy any violation."

Look, you don't have to be a lawyer to grok that suing and demanding an evidentiary hearing to work out what the defendants did wrong before you tell the court what you want is not how any of this shit goes. These geniuses also claimed that the defendants had forfeited the right to argue "the defense of latches" — ughhh, laches, you bloody dunderheads — by engaging in pretrial motions.

With all that as preamble, let's take a look at the opinion , which was BRUTAL, finding that all 12 of the allegations the plaintiffs settled on after the November 4 hearing were "unsubstantiated and/or misinterpret Michigan election law."

On numerous occasions Plaintiffs have asserted the Detroit City Clerk's procedures for the November 8, 2022 election violate Michigan election laws and are reflective of corruption in our state's largest city. While it is easy to hurl accusations of violations of law and corruption, it is another matter to come forward and produce the evidence our Constitution and laws require. Plaintiffs failed, in a full day evidentiary hearing, to produce any shred of evidence. No exhibits, no testimony from any of the Plaintiffs, no evidence from Mr. Thomas or Mr. Baxter indicate the procedures for the November 8, 2022 election violate Michigan election laws.

Plaintiffs have raised a false flag of election law violations and corruption concerning Detroit's procedures for the November 8th election. This Court's ruling takes down that flag.

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. These claims are unjustified, devoid of any evidentiary basis and cannot be allowed to stand.

The court was similarly appalled at the plaintiffs' attempt to paint legal efforts to count every vote as somehow nefarious, as in this description of the attack on the practice of duplicating military ballots so as to make them readable by the scanner.

Plaintiffs' contention that duplication of ballots, for overseas military personnel, and registered voters temporarily residing overseas, disregards Michigan election law MCL 168. 798b permitting duplication. In fact, Michigan law clearly permits this process. "Absentee votes cast on paper ballots may be recorded by election inspectors on ballot cards for counting by tabulating equipment." MCL 168.798C(1).

Calling the case "the quintessential example of the application of the laches doctrine," the court notes that the plaintiffs "sat on their hands for months before bringing a complaint" despite the clear instruction of MCL 691.1031 that "There shall be a rebuttable presumption of laches if the action is commenced less than 28 days prior to the date of the election affected."

In sum, the plaintiffs' effort to impose extra-legal requirements on the state's largest Democratic city is filthy, and will not be allowed to prevail.

The Court further finds that to grant relief at this time would egregiously harm the eligible voters of the city of Detroit. Absentee voting had been in effect for weeks before Plaintiffs filed their lawsuit. As of November 3, 2022, approximately 60,000 absentee ballots have been returned to the Detroit City Clerk's Office. The preliminary injunction would serve to disenfranchise tens of thousands of eligible voters in the city of Detroit. Additionally, the city of Detroit would be the only community in Michigan to suffer such an adverse impact. Such harm to the citizens of the city of Detroit, and by extension the citizens of the state of Michigan, is not only unprecedented, it is intolerable.

The harm to the public interest if the injunction is issued is incalculable. The idea that the Court would single out one community in the state to be treated adversely when Plaintiffs have provided no evidence in support of their allegation simply cannot be allowed to occur.

We will tell you what happened in Pennsylvania later. Spoiler Alert: NOT GOOD. But this morning, let's just enjoy the win as we brace ourselves for the bullshit to come.

[ Karamo v. Winfrey , via Democracy Docket]

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