Staff Reports
The National Republican Senatorial Committee says it has sent cease‑and‑desist letters to four Michigan county clerks after reports that poll workers were telling voters a straight‑party vote combined with individual candidate marks would “spoil” their ballot. If true, this is not just sloppy work at the polls — it’s voter intimidation dressed up as incompetence. Michigan law plainly allows split‑ticket voting, and anyone telling voters otherwise needs to explain themselves — loudly.
What the NRSC says happened
The NRSC claims the letters were delivered to the clerks in Kent County (Clerk/Register Lisa Posthumus Lyons), Shiawassee County (Clerk Caroline D. Wilson), Wayne County (Clerk Cathy Garrett) and Monroe County (Clerk/Register Annamarie Osment). The complaint is simple: voters and credentialed challengers reported that election inspectors were instructing people that marking a straight‑party oval and also filling in individual candidate choices would make the ballot “spoiled,” “rejected,” or “not count.” The committee demanded that clerks stop those instructions and issue corrective guidance to precinct staff.
Full disclosure: copies of the NRSC letters are not yet widely available in the public record, and local officials haven’t all posted responses. Still, the core legal point the NRSC relies on is rock solid. Michigan’s ballot instructions explicitly say a voter may cast a straight ticket and also vote for individual candidates of their choice — split‑ticket voting is allowed. So any poll worker telling a voter otherwise is either misinformed or misbehaving, and neither is acceptable on Election Day.
Why split‑ticket rules matter
This issue is not a minor technicality. Voter misinformation at the polling place can suppress votes and skew outcomes, especially in tight races. If Democrats in Detroit or elsewhere decide to mark a straight‑party choice but also pick an individual candidate across the aisle, that’s their right. The idea that someone would be told their ballot won’t count because they exercised that right is absurd. It smells like partisan gatekeeping — intentional or not — and the fix is equally simple: obey the law and stop confusing voters.
What must happen next
Clerks should release the NRSC letters if they received them and publish corrective instructions to every precinct chair and inspector. County election offices must preserve records and provide logs of any ballots marked “spoiled” with reasons. The Michigan Bureau of Elections should remind every polling place of the mandated ballot language and investigate reports of mis‑instruction. If national committees have to threaten legal action to get basic compliance with state law, that says everything you need to know about the state of Election Day operations.
Voters deserve clear rules and fair counting, not confusion at the last minute. Republicans shouldn’t cede this ground — protecting voters who cross party lines benefits democracy and our candidates alike. So clerks: produce the letters, fix your poll workers, and stop treating voters like they need permission to think for themselves. The rest of us will be watching the spoiled‑ballot logs like hawks — and laughing if anyone tries to sell us the “we didn’t know” defense.
