State Court of Appeals reverses Republican win on absentee ballot stubs
Absentee ballots returned to election officials by mail, which have missing or mismatched ballot stubs, can still be counted, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled, reversing an earlier court ruling.
A three-judge state Court of Appeals panel issued its ruling on Friday, June 26, saying the state Legislature "did not prohibit election inspectors from tabulating absent-voter ballots with missing or mismatched stubs" and the courts cannot do so now.
The decision reverses a ruling made in the Court of Claims in December 2025 in a case brought by the Republican National Committee, the state Republican Party and Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry. The Court of Appeals also found the Court of Claims overstepped its authority in imposing a 10-point process for handling absentee ballots with missing or mismatched stubs.
The suit, which was filed in 2024, deals with a detachable stub with a unique identifying number attached to ballots that are mailed to absentee voters and the return envelopes, to be used by voters in sending the ballots back, which also includes the number as a security measure.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/06/27/michigan-absentee-ballot-stubs-court-of-appeals/90721220007/
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