LANSING, MI - The Michigan Court of Claims has ruled that guidance issued by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on counting absentee ballots with mismatched numbers is not valid.

In a Dec. 3 ruling, the Lansing-based court issued an opinion that Benson’s guidance is contrary to Michigan election law under a 2024 change, and absentee ballots should be counted only when the numbers line up.

Court of Claims Chief Judge Brock Swartzle wrote in the opinion that the right to vote is “one of the fundamental pillars on which this country governs itself.”

“Partisans and pundits will sometimes place election integrity in tension with the right to vote,” he wrote. “This is a fallacy, as an election without integrity is as much a danger to a citizen’s vote as would be simply taking away the franch

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