ACLU sues Kalamazoo County election official after certification comments
The ACLU of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a member of the Kalamazoo Board of County Canvassers following comments he made that the organizations claim indicate his willingness to violate his oath of office and refuse to certify election results if he doesn’t agree with them.
The lawsuit, filed in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court, notes comments made by Robert Froman, one of four members of that county’s Board of Canvassers, to The Detroit News last month in which he said he “most definitely” believes the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. When asked if he would certify the 2024 election if it unfolded the same way, Froman was reported to have replied, “No. And that’s why I’m there.”
The ACLU says the comment, as well as other statements, indicates Froman’s unwillingness to certify the results of the 2024 election regardless of allegations or evidence of election fraud, which county canvassing boards are not empowered to investigate.
“The law could not be clearer. It is the ministerial, nondiscretionary duty of the members of a county board of canvassers to certify the presidential election based on the returns from the precincts, absent voter counting boards, and early voting sites,” states the lawsuit. “This legal obligation is not new. Since at least 1892, Michigan courts have held that canvassers cannot ‘go behind’ the returns and challenge the results based on allegations (or even evidence) of voter fraud. A failure to certify based on a canvasser’s belief or theory that the election was somehow ‘stolen’ would be flatly impermissible.”
https://michiganadvance.com/2024/09/04/aclu-sues-kalamazoo-county-election-official-after-certification-comments/