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Obama Campaign Sues in Michigan Over Alleged Voter Fraud
The American Lawyer
September 18, 2008
In 2000, Florida was the eye of the voters' rights legal storm; in 2004, it was Ohio. This year, it may just be Michigan.
The Obama campaign filed a class action suit in the Eastern District of Michigan on Tuesday against the Macomb County Republican Party on behalf of three county residents whose homes are undergoing foreclosure. The move set off threats of a countersuit from the state Republican party.
The lawsuit follows up on information published by the Michigan Messenger, an online publication run by the Center for Independent Media, quoting county party Chairman James Carabelli's promise to stop residents in foreclosed homes from voting.
Obama's campaign sought an injunction to stop the county from challenging voters undergoing foreclosure on election day.
"The presence of an address on a list of foreclosures provides no legitimate basis for challenging a voter's eligibility," the suit says. "It serves one purpose: to threaten, harass, and intimidate voters whom Defendant Republicans believe are unlikely to vote for their candidates."
James Bruinsma, a partner at Myers Nelson Dillon & Shierk in Grand Rapids, Mich., filed the suit on behalf of local plaintiffs. Mary Ellen Gurewitz from Sachs Waldman in Detroit and Robert Bauer, a partner at Perkins Coie in Washington, D.C., acted as co-counsel for Obama for America on the suit, with Joseph Sandler from Sandler, Reiff & Young serving as counsel for the Democratic National Committee.
"I have spoken to a number of individuals who are having real concerns that there may be intimidation or other tactics used to prevent them from voting," Bruinsma told The Am Law Daily. "We're going to be moving on a quick track to make sure something is done before the election."
The Michigan Republican Party responded with threats of their own suit, alleging that the quotes in the Michigan Messenger were libelous.
Matthew Davis of Witte Law Offices in Lansing, Mich., responded to the Obama suit Wednesday by releasing a letter addressed to the Center for Independent Media on behalf of Carabelli and the state party threatening a countersuit if the Messenger's story is not retracted within seven days.
"Mr. Carabelli has said that the quote attributed to him was fabricated by the reporter who interviewed him," Bill Nowling, communications director for the Michigan Republican Party, told The Am Law Daily. "This is a page right out of the Democrats' playbook of tricks."
But the Center for Independent Media was nonplussed by the threatened libel action, saying that this was only a tactic to distract from the Obama campaign's claim.
"We still have received no letter from the Michigan Party Republicans at this point, but we stand by our story," said David Bennahum, the center's chief executive officer. The publication is represented by John Pomeranz, a partner at Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg in Washington. "No threatened suit can change the facts."
