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Detroit voters sue President Trump over his attempt to block certification of election results

Lawsuit claims Trump, his campaign attempting to disenfranchise Black voters

FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump listens during a news conference in the briefing room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) (Susan Walsh, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

DETROIT – Three Detroit voters have joined a local organization in suing President Trump and his campaign over their effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The Michigan Welfare Rights Organization, along with three Detroit residents, filed a lawsuit against the Trump campaign Friday, arguing that the campaign is seeking to disenfranchise Black voters in their attempt to block the certification of Michigan votes -- especially those from Wayne County.

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“Having lost the vote in Michigan and other states that are necessary for a majority of the electoral college, President Trump and the Donald J. Trump For President, Inc. Campaign are engaged in a campaign to overturn the results of the election by blocking certification of the results, on the (legally incorrect) theory that blocking certification would allow state legislatures to override the will of the voters and choose the Trump Campaign’s slate of electors,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit, filed on the plaintiffs’ behalf by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, claims that President Trump and his campaign are in violation of section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which states: “No person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, shall intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for voting or attempting to vote, or intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any person for urging or aiding any person to vote or attempt to vote.”

The Detroiters argue that Trump and his team have been putting pressure on state and local officials to delay the certification of votes in Michigan. They claim that Trump’s campaign has been “intimidating or coercing state and local officials from aiding Plaintiffs and other residents of Detroit and Wayne County from having their votes ‘counted properly and included in the appropriate totals of votes cast’” -- which, if true, is in direct violation of the act.

Click here to read the full story.


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About the Author
Cassidy Johncox headshot

Cassidy Johncox is a senior digital news editor covering stories across the spectrum, with a special focus on politics and community issues.