For Immediate Release
February 18, 2021
MICHIGAN – Anthony Daunt, director of the Michigan Freedom Fund, agreed to drop Daunt v. Benson, his lawsuit to compel the state of Michigan to purge its voter rolls more aggressively. Daunt consented to dismissal in court after Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson explained the state’s ongoing voter list maintenance efforts. The League of Women Voters of Michigan and Local Leagues from Grand Traverse, the Ann Arbor Area, Leelanau County, Copper Country, and the Oakland Area had intervened in the case as defendants.
“The League of Women Voters of Michigan is pleased that this lawsuit has now been dismissed,” said Christina Schlitt, President of the League of Women Voters of Michigan. “The League has spent the last century promoting and protecting the right to register and vote by educating, assisting, and registering voters throughout Michigan. We are proud to defend Michigan voters against unjust purge practices.”
The league is represented in the lawsuit by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; and Butzel Long.
“As this dismissal makes clear, Michigan’s existing voter list maintenance practices satisfy federal law,” said Eliza Sweren-Becker, counsel in the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program. “Michigan election officials worked hard to ensure safe and secure elections for voters in 2020, and they should not have been forced to defend against groundless lawsuits in the meantime.”
