The lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against Gretchen Whitmer over the new voter registration locations she established in Michigan has been deemed “speculative” by the Department of Justice.
The DOJ said the former president’s lawsuit made against the Michigan governor in July should be dismissed in a motion released on September 20. The department wrote that the lawsuit “failed to identify any concrete or particularized injury that flows from two Federal agencies providing nonpartisan voter registration services that many Federal, State, and local offices also provide.”
The DOJ added that, as the lawsuit did not “establish constitutional standing,” even if the court were to consider its claims, the allegations “are meritless as a matter of law.”
Newsweek contacted the DOJ press office out of normal working hours for comment on its motion, as well as the lawyers representing Trump and Whitmer’s press office.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Donald Trump. The lawsuit filed by Trump against Whitmer over the new voter registration locations has been deemed “speculative” by the Department of Justice.
CJ Rivera L) and Evan Vucci R)./Invision via AP (L /AP (R.
The former president’s lawsuit accuses Whitmer of breaking state law by allowing prospective voters to register at the Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Small Business Administration offices, and of trying to influence the 2024 presidential election.
The accusations came after Whitmer launched an initiative to allow American citizens wishing to vote to register at the Saginaw VA Medical Center, the Detroit VA Medical Center, the department’s Detroit regional office and a number of other sites in Michigan, Law & Crime reported.
According to the outlet, at the time the directive was announced, Whitmer said that “our government is more accountable” when “more Michiganders vote,” stating “voting is the lifeblood of our democracy.”
She added that she was “fully committed to protecting the fundamental right to vote, making participation in our democracy more accessible, combating misinformation, and empowering all eligible voters to make their voices heard.”
She also noted that the list of Michigan’s voter registration agencies was almost 30 years old and “in need of an update.”
Whitmer’s plan invoked the National Voter Registration Act passed in 1993, on the section that requires states to have designated registration sites at government offices in addition to local clerk’s offices.
Trump’s lawsuit argued that Michigan law required the state’s legislature, not the governor, to designate the sites, according to Law & Crime.
In August, Trump had a victory in relation to the case, after federal judge Paul L. Maloney ruled that the involvement of the Vet Voice Foundation in the governor’s case, a progressive veterans’ organization backing Whitmer’s actions, would be “unnecessary and burdensome.”
The organization was keen to join Whitmer’s side and had argued that the governor’s plans would make it easier for veterans to vote.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this article? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
