Federal Court affirms that Michigan's work to remove deceased voters from state rolls is "more than reasonable," rejects legal challenge

Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds lower court's dismissal of lawsuit, cites Michigan as one of the nation's most active states in cancelling registrations of dead voters 

LANSING, Mich. – Today, the Michigan Department of State (MDOS) won its second victory in a case challenging the state’s process for cancelling the voter registrations of people who have died. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the federal district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), and stated in its ruling that, “Michigan’s multi-layered efforts are more than reasonable.”  
 
"Michigan has done more in the last six years to improve the accuracy of our voter rolls than was done in the previous two decades," said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. "I’m very grateful that a federal court has once again recognized our strong work keeping our voter file up to date. Since 2020, our department has fought a record number of lawsuits based on false and meritless claims meant to undermine people’s faith in Michigan’s elections. Today’s ruling is yet another victory for evidence, facts, and the law."
 
Since 2019, state and local election officials have removed more than 1.4 million registrations from the state’s Qualified Voter File (QVF) in compliance with the NVRA. Michigan is one of the most active states in the country in removing registrations of voters who have died – ranking fifth in the nation in 2020 and in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Clerks receive information daily from the Social Security Death Index and can use other information like obituaries or death notifications from the voter’s family to remove them from the voter file. Michigan also participates in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonpartisan national tool that compares voter files across several states.  
 
In its ruling, the 6th Circuit describes how Michigan goes above and beyond the legal standard for maintaining the state’s voter file, “A state that actively makes efforts to remove dead registrants based on state and federal death records is engaging in an inherently rational, sensible attempt at maintaining accurate voter registration lists. Michigan not only undertakes the kind of effort described . . . but it also adopts additional standards as well.”  
 
The Court continued, “Michigan goes further by also actively employing a third party, ERIC, to assist in identifying deceased registrants. This additional effort only further enhances the reasonableness of Michigan’s efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls.” 
 
READ FULL OPINION: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirms dismissal of PILF v. Benson
 
For more information on the state’s robust voter list maintenance procedures, visit Michigan.gov/Vote. 

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