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Commenter supports filing recount challenges directly in Supreme Court to prevent delay tactics
Summary
A witness urged adoption of an amendment requiring original filing in the Michigan Supreme Court for presidential recount challenges, saying the change would block timing strategies used in other states that sought to run out the clock on recounts.
Lydia Christiansen urged the court to adopt amendments (ADM 2024‑30) clarifying MCR 7.306 so that recount or proposed recount challenges in presidential elections may be filed originally in the Michigan Supreme Court. She argued that prior litigation in other states used timing strategies — filing in multiple courts to consume days — that sought to decide by delay rather than merits.
The proposed change would require original filings in the Supreme Court for presidential recount matters and impose a 24‑hour deadline at each stage, she said, and would remove the standard electronic‑filing extension for those timelines. “Votes should be easy to cast, hard to suppress, and impossible to steal through delay,” Christiansen said.
The court heard the comment; no action was taken during the session.
