President Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Michigan secretary of state and Wayne County, arguing the officials violated the Constitution by treating Republican poll observers differently than Democrats.
Matt Morgan, the campaign’s general counsel, told reporters that election officials did not allow Republican poll observers to review mail-in ballots with Democratic poll observers, which is a violation of state law. He also said they were harassed.
Mr. Morgan claimed the different treatment is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
The federal lawsuit, which will be filed Tuesday night in the Western District of Michigan, details a number of concerns in Wayne County, where the city of Detroit is located.
The filing includes more than 100 affidavits detailing election irregularities in the county, where there are reports of multiple ballots being cast by individuals and ballots being run through the machines a number of times.
“It was pervasive,” said Thor Hearne, counsel to the campaign.
The lawyers are asking the court to not certify Michigan’s results until they can ensure all ballots were cast legally, and also inspect software from Dominion Voting System, which reportedly counted 6,000 ballots that were meant for Republicans for Democratic candidates in Antrim County.
That software was used in roughly 50 other counties in the state. Michigan officials, though, have disputed the software “glitch” as human error.
Mr. Trump is trailing presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden in the swing-state by roughly 146,000 votes.
Tim Murtaugh, the president’s campaign manager, said each lawsuit they are filing is getting the campaign one step closer to re-electing the president. On Monday, the campaign filed an 85-page complaint in Pennsylvania, alleging several issues of election irregularities in the keystone state.
“Every action that we are taking…is an effort to get us closer to the re-election. We do believe ultimately President Trump will be declared the winner of this election,” he said.
Mr. Trump won both Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2016 by less than 1%.
