RNC Scores Major Victory in Lawsuit Exposing Detroit’s Blatant Discrimination — Only 52 Republicans Hired Compared to Over 2,300 Democrats as Poll Workers

 

One of the surprise late-night ballot drops at Detroit’s TCF Center on Election Night 2020 changed the election in Michigan.

In a major win for election integrity, the Republican National Committee (RNC), the Michigan GOP, and Wayne County Republican leaders have successfully challenged the City of Detroit’s blatant disregard for state election laws.

This victory marks a crucial step toward ensuring fairness and transparency in Michigan’s electoral process, which was threatened by the city’s deliberate failure to hire a sufficient number of Republican poll workers.

The lawsuit, brought in August by the RNC, Michigan GOP, and Wayne County Republicans, exposed Detroit’s refusal to comply with Michigan law, which mandates a balanced hiring of election inspectors from both major political parties.

Instead, the city overwhelmingly favored Democratic poll workers, hiring an astonishing seven times more Democrats than Republicans. Out of 675 Republican nominees, only 52 were hired, compared to over 2,300 Democrats.

RNC Chair Michael Whatley and Co-chair Lara Trump (Credit: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump issued a joint statement, condemning Detroit’s actions as “bad-faith Democrat interference that drives down faith in elections.” They emphasized that the lawsuit was necessary to “remedy this completely unacceptable breach of public trust.”

“Detroit’s failure to hire Republican poll workers is the kind of bad-faith Democrat interference that drives down faith in elections. The RNC is bringing suit to remedy this completely unacceptable breach of public trust and our unprecedented election integrity campaign will continue to fight in Michigan and nationwide to protect the rights of every voter to have fair, accurate, secure and transparent elections,” the statement reads.

Background:  

• Michigan law requires election officials to hire an “equal number, as nearly as possible,” of poll workers from each major political party.
• The Republican Party nominated 675 election inspectors, but Detroit appointed only 52 of the party’s inspectors for the primary election. The city hired around 250 other Republicans, but these individuals were not nominated by the party.
• In contrast, Detroit hired over 2,300 Democratic election inspectors.
• A ratio of 7 Democrats to every one Republican inspector is not even close to equal.
• This uneven distribution of poll workers not only breaches state law but also undermines the integrity and fairness of the electoral process.

Following the lawsuit, Detroit has now pledged to alter its hiring practices to meet state requirements. A revised hiring strategy will ensure that each location has at least one Republican poll worker.

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Whatley speaking with attendees at The Believers Summit at the Palm Beach County Convention Center (Credit: Gage Skidmore)

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley stated, “Thanks to the efforts of the RNC and Michigan GOP, Detroit will now change its election processes so that Republican poll workers will be allocated to all voting locations and, as nearly as possible, an equal number of Republicans will be hired this November. This will bring much-needed transparency and accountability to Detroit’s election system and ensure that a more equal number of Republicans and Democrats work Detroit’s polls — our election integrity operation will continue to fight and win for our country’s most important election.”

This practice isn’t limited to Detroit. The RNC, along with the Georgia Republican Party and the Fulton County Republican Party, has filed a lawsuit against Nadine Williams, the Director of Fulton County Department of Registration & Elections.

The lawsuit alleges that Williams intentionally excluded qualified Republican poll workers from the hiring process for the upcoming November 2024 election, hiring only 15 Republicans out of 804 total election staff.

The lawsuit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court, seeks an emergency writ of mandamus, demanding Williams immediately appoint the Republican poll workers that were submitted for consideration.

Under Georgia law, political parties are entitled to submit lists of qualified individuals to serve as poll workers, and election officials are required to ensure balanced representation from both parties at polling places.