By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


A voter registration lawsuit involving Livingston County’s clerk has been dismissed.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Tuesday the voluntary dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the integrity of Michigan’s 2020 general election. Last June, plaintiff Anthony Daunt filed a lawsuit suing Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Director of Elections Johnathan Brater. Daunt, a Republican activist, made allegations of inadequate voter registration list maintenance.

The lawsuit attempted to force state and local election officials in 16 counties, including Livingston County Clerk Elizabeth Hundley, to remove ineligible voters from the rolls in 16 Michigan counties with “abnormally high” registration levels. Hundley was named a defendant alongside the clerks from Washtenaw and Oakland counties, along with 13 others from northern Michigan. The suit alleged that Leelanau, outside Traverse City, has a registration rate of 102%, meaning they have more registered voters than eligible voters based on 2014-2018 census data. Livingston County was listed at 93.5%. According to Daunt, the statewide average is 73%.

A release from Nessel’s office states that Daunt’s alleged claims rested on old, estimated census data and failed to account for the National Voter Registration Act’s required delays in removing names from voter registration files. The NVRA also prohibits most list maintenance activities within 90 days of a federal election. Michigan held federal elections in March, August and November of 2020, making maintenance activities a virtual impossibility.

With those elections behind us, Secretary of State Benson has announced that ongoing voter registration list maintenance is being carried out in accordance with federal law.