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Witness urges Michigan Supreme Court to require direct filings for presidential recount challenges
Summary
A public commenter told the Court proposed MCR changes requiring original filing in the Michigan Supreme Court for presidential recounts with 24-hour deadlines would block delay-based strategies used in 2020 and protect timely resolution on the merits.
Lydia Christiansen urged the Court to adopt the proposed amendment to MCR 7.306 that would allow original actions to challenge presidential recounts and impose 24-hour deadlines at each stage. Christiansen said the change is intended to prevent litigants from relying on a timing strategy ‘‘where the goal was not to win on the merits’’ but ‘‘to run out the clock.’’ She argued the amendment would require parties with genuine claims to reach the Court quickly and would remove electronic filing deadline extensions in these time-sensitive matters.
Christiansen framed the amendment as protecting voting rights by preventing delay-based tactics, saying, ‘‘Vote should be easy to cast, hard to suppress, and impossible to steal through delay.’’ The Court did not take a vote at the hearing; the matter remains in the rulemaking file.
