Michigan Supreme Court suspends court order invalidating election challenger guidance

The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday suspended a Michigan Court of Claims order — celebrated by Republicans — that required revisions to the instructions for election observers that monitor polling locations and absentee ballot counting rooms. The Michigan Supreme Court's order leaves in place for the general election the same poll challenger guidelines used in the recent August primary.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and election officials raised concerns that the last-minute revisions ordered by the lower court would cause confusion and chaos at the polls and counting rooms. Former Michigan elections director Chris Thomas worried it would potentially pave the way for intimidation against election workers.

Republicans had heralded the earlier lower court order as a legal victory in response to a pair of lawsuits challenging the legality of the poll challenger manual: one from the Michigan GOP and Republican National Committee and another from GOP candidates and challengers representing organizations that deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

In a statement concurring with the Michigan Supreme Court's decision to suspend the lower court order, Justice Elizabeth Welch — a Democratic-nominated justice — chided those who brought the lawsuits for waiting until late September to file them. "The general election is now less than one week away. Training for poll workers has been completed. It would be impossible to retrain thousands of workers across our state within a matter of days," she wrote.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/michigan-supreme-court-suspends-court-183756155.html