President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has filed suit in Michigan’s Court of Claims seeking a halt of ballot counting in Michigan "until meaningful access has been granted" to observe the ballot counting process, but Democratic officials in Michigan are countering the claims.
"We also demand to review those ballots which are opened and counted while we did not have meaningful access," the campaign said in a statement.
The campaign said it had been denied access to "numerous counting locations" to observe the process "as guaranteed by Michigan law."
"As votes in Michigan continue to be counted, the presidential race in the state remains extremely tight as we always knew it would be," said Bill Stepien, campaign manager for Trump's 2020 campaign.
The campaign's statement did not list the locations where it claimed to have been denied access, and a copy of the lawsuit was not immediately available.
Attorney General Dana Nessel's office had not been served a copy of the suit as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the attorney general's office.
"Michigan's elections have been conducted transparently, with access provided for both political parties and the public, and using a robust system of checks and balances to ensure that all ballots are counted fairly and accurately," said Ryan Jarvi, a spokesman for Nessel's office.
The lawsuit is "as frivolous a lawsuit as it gets," said Mark Brewer, former chairman for the Michigan Democratic Party and a lawyer.
Brewer has been at the TCF Center in Detroit, where absentee ballots are being counted, throughout Wednesday and worked with others who have been present there Monday and Tuesday. Absentee vote tally discrepancies in Detroit marred the August primary and prompted Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office to form a partnership with Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey to correct the problems.
"I am at TCF, and there have been hundreds of GOP challengers here these past few days," Brewer said, while noting they were "ill-trained" and "rude."
"Nobody is being denied access," he said.
