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A Kalamazoo County canvasser has signed a sworn affidavit pledging to fulfill his legal obligation to certify the November election, in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan after he originally said he might decline to sign off on the election results.
Having reached a satisfactory outcome, the ACLU will voluntarily drop its suit against the canvasser, the organization said.
“This is a clear recognition there is no legal defense if you are sued for these things,” said Phil Mayor, senior attorney for the ACLU of Michigan. “This is establishing the principle that if you refuse to certify, you will be held responsible.”
The lawsuit stemmed from comments the canvasser, 73-year-old Robert Froman, was reported to have made to The Detroit News last month. Froman, a Republican, said that he believed the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, and that if the 2024 election went the same way, he would not certify, the News reported. Trump lost Michigan to now-President Joe Biden by about 150,000 votes.
Michigan law makes clear that certification is not optional for any canvassers, whether at the county or state level. Those who shirk their duty face potential misdemeanor charges as well as fines. The ACLU’s lawsuit asked a judge to declare that Froman must certify. With the signed affidavit from Froman, Mayor said, the ACLU had achieved its goal.
If Froman does refuse to certify in November, the ACLU would sue him again, Mayor said, along with any other canvasser who refused.
Froman said Tuesday that he was glad the lawsuit was over and that he got the result he wanted. He previously told Votebeat he would certify the election and felt his words had been misconstrued in the News’ report. (In a letter included in the ACLU’s original filing, The News stood by its reporting.)
“The process doesn’t change just because it’s November,” Froman told Votebeat. “To sign a letter that says I’m going to do what I already committed an oath to was easy.”
The lawsuit is bigger than just Froman, though. It’s part of a growing effort nationwide by election officials and voting rights groups to ensure that elections results are certified on time, and to forewarn those who might consider not certifying.
The lawsuit against Froman may be one of the first preemptive lawsuits filed against a potentially defiant election official, experts say, but there’s a good chance it won’t be the last as officials aim to prevent potential crises like the ones seen in 2020.
That was the year that two Republican canvassers in Wayne County who were allegedly under pressure from Trump said they wouldn’t certify the election results because of concerns in Detroit. At the state level, too, a Republican initially refused to certify, putting Michigan’s certification in limbo until the other Republican canvasser voted to approve it.
Several states have since made it harder to not certify an election.
Michigan’s laws are clearer than most states on the requirement to certify, and state officials have made clear they are willing to enforce them. When the two Republican members of the Delta County Board of Canvassers refused to certify a recall election in May, in part because of a push from local advocates demanding a forensic audit, the state pressured them to follow the law, and they eventually complied and signed off on the election results.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel used the incident as an opportunity to make clear that failing to certify would be a violation of a canvasser’s duties and would invite civil and criminal charges as well as fees.
Other states have used their similar laws to resolve certification crises. An Arizona court, for instance, forced a county board to certify its election results in 2022. Two of those board members were then indicted for initially refusing to certify.
That kind of pressure is necessary anywhere in the country where voters risk not having their votes counted because of outside concerns about the legitimacy of the election, Mayor said.
“This is 100% a victory not only to ensure the vote is protected in Kalamazoo but also to make clear to canvassers around the state that they have a clerical and ministerial duty that is not up for debate,” he said.
Disclosure: Reporter Hayley Harding was previously employed by The Detroit News.
Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.
