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Judge rejects challenge of Michigan’s ‘reasonable’ process for dead voter removal

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Judge rejects challenge of Michigan’s ‘reasonable’ process for dead voter removal


Lansing — A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit alleging Michigan wasn’t doing enough to prune dead voters from its registration records, ruling instead that the state has a reasonable process to remove dead voters on a “regular and ongoing basis.”

Federal data shows Michigan is consistently among the most active states when it comes to canceling a voter’s registration after he or she dies — ranking sixth in the nation for the number of registrations canceled for dead voters in the 2016 election cycle, fourth in 2018, fifth in 2020 and fifth in 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Jane Beckering wrote in the ruling.

The state’s multi-layered approach for identifying dead voters and removing them meets and exceeds the “reasonable effort” required under federal election law, Beckering wrote while dismissing the suit brought by the Alexandria, Va.-based Public Interest Legal Foundation.

“After conducting more than nine months of discovery into the many facets of Michigan’s program for the removal of deceased registrants, PILF (Public Interest Legal Foundation) has identified no genuine issue for trial regarding its claim that the program is not reasonable,” Beckering wrote.

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Beckering also dismissed complaints from PILF regarding Benson’s production of records the foundation had requested, noting PILF’s initial request was delayed by the 2020 election but eventually was satisfied.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson celebrated the win in a statement Friday, calling the lawsuit a “thinly veiled attempt to undermine voters’ faith in their voice, their vote, and our democracy.”

“Voters should expect more attempts to fool them about our elections to follow this failed effort,” Benson said in the statement. “And they should know we will continue to respond to those attacks with truth, facts, and data to give all citizens confidence that every valid vote, and only valid votes, will be counted in every election.”

In a statement Friday, the Public Interest Legal Foundation said it planned to appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing the case was needed to develop “clarity in the law.”

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“This appeal will have national implications for election integrity because keeping the dead on the rolls for decades after death isn’t reasonable,” said J. Christian Adams, the group’s president.

The case dates back to 2020, when the conservative Indianapolis-based election integrity organization began alleging Michigan was not acting quickly enough to remove dead voters from its voter lists. The foundation eventually filed a suit over the issue in November 2021.

Benson’s office rejected the claims, arguing it immediately cancels voter registration when it receives official death confirmation, usually on a weekly basis through the Social Security Administration’s Master Death Index. 

County clerks also forward a list to their city and township clerks at least once a month with the last known address and birth date of individuals who have died in the county, according to past filings in the case. The local clerk then uses that information to cancel the registration of any dead individuals; local clerks also can use other information, such as a death notice in a newspaper or “personal firsthand knowledge,” according to the filings.

Other inactive voters are identified through statewide mailings and then removed in compliance with a waiting period required under federal law. Federal law requires that a suspected inactive voter not be removed from a voting list until or unless they fail to vote in two statewide federal elections. There is no such waiting period for dead voters to be removed from the Qualified Voter File.

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Between 2019 and 2023, Michigan cancelled between 400,000 to 450,000 registrations because the voters were dead, Beckering noted in her opinion.

More than 500,000 inactive voters will have their registrations cancelled in 2025, according to Benson’s office.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com



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Michigan

2025 cornerback from Georgia gets Michigan State football offer

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2025 cornerback from Georgia gets Michigan State football offer


Michigan State football has found a new prospect in the 2025 recruiting class to extend an offer to. Notably, so late in the cycle, any new offer holds major significance.

Chaney was once committed to Georgia State, but has backed off of that commitment. After a solid fall, he has received offers from Eastern Michigan, Oregon State and USF, along with MSU to go along with his initial crop of offers.

A 6’1″, 185 pound cornerback, be on the lookout for Michigan State to potentially make a move here if things do not work out with a couple of other prospects.



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UM report forecasts moderate economic growth in Michigan, nation in 2025-26

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UM report forecasts moderate economic growth in Michigan, nation in 2025-26


As the Federal Reserve continues to cut interest rates amid a cooling job market, the economy is poised for moderate growth in Michigan and nationally over the next two years, according to University of Michigan economists.

The national economy is projected to grow 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024 with the unemployment rate averaging 4.2%, while growth may ease slightly in the near future due to a slowing labor market, the UM economists said in a U.S. Economic Outlook for 2025–2026.

Meanwhile, Michigan’s economy has slowed since spring, with heightened uncertainty due to the recent elections, the economists wrote in a Michigan Economic Outlook for 2025–2026. Both reports were written by Jacob T. Burton, Gabriel M. Ehrlich, Kyle W. Henson, Daniil Manaenkov, Niaoniao You and Yinuo Zhang.

“The U.S. economy has gone through times of great uncertainty before and emerged intact,” the economists wrote. “We are projecting that both Michigan and the nation will follow that path over the next two years.”

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Job growth in Michigan is expected to decline in the second half of the year, but grow moderately in 2025 and 2026.

“We believe the election results have amplified the uncertainty surrounding Michigan’s economic outlook,” the economists wrote. “We project a small dip in Michigan’s job count in the back half of 2024 to give way to moderate job gains in 2025 and 2026, but the outlook depends critically on uncertain policy decisions and the subsequent market responses.”

The economists expect job growth in the state to be strongest in health care, leisure and hospitality and government, while sectors including manufacturing and professional services are expected to remain stable.

“We are projecting the state economy to return to growth over the next two years as easier monetary policy and another round of tax cuts boost medium-term growth,” the economists wrote. “Michigan adds 19,000 payroll jobs next year and an additional 26,700 in 2026. The unemployment rate in Michigan is projected to fall from 4.6% in late 2024 to 4.3% by the end of 2026.”

The Detroit, Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor metro areas showed a downward trend in job growth, with Detroit and Grand Rapids seeing 0.1% growth during the past year. Ann Arbor saw relatively stronger job growth of 1.3% as of September, according to the report. Metro-level data for October was not available for the report, officials said.

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The report attributes the underlying cause of the slowdown in Michigan’s job market as the Federal Reserve’s policy of monetary tightening to control inflation.

“Although the Fed has recently pivoted toward reducing short-term interest rates, we believe that real interest rates remain at a restrictive level and that the effects of the Fed’s past tight monetary policy continue to impact Michigan’s economy,” the economists wrote. “Indeed, in many ways, the national rebalancing in the labor market is precisely what the Fed hoped to engineer with its policy actions. Unfortunately for Michigan, our relatively rate-sensitive industry mix means that higher interest rates have taken a larger economic toll than nationally.”

The Michigan outlook points to stronger personal income growth, with per capita income increasing to $64,000 in 2024 and reaching around $68,500 by 2026, up 41% from 2019.

Inflation is expected to slow to 3.3% in 2024 and 2.2% in 2025 before increasing to 2.7% in 2026 due to new tariffs that the incoming Trump administration is expected to impose.

The U.S. and Michigan economic outlook reports follow the presidential election, which economists say will result in significant changes in U.S. economic policies. In the reports, the economists shared their thoughts on about the impacts of a second Trump administration.

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The recent election of Donald Trump as well as the Republican majorities in the U.S. Senate and House will likely to result in a continuation of tax cuts Trump enacted during his first term, the economists said. Also expected is a sharp rise in tariffs on imports from China to take effect by 2026. 

While rising tariffs on Chinese imports and tax cuts for corporations and individuals are expected in upcoming years, revenue increases from tariffs are unlikely to offset revenue losses generated by tax cuts, according to the report. This could result in slower revenue growth and a sharp increase in federal deficits.

“As the stimulative effects of the expected tax cuts dominate the drag from the anticipated new tariffs, we project quarterly GDP growth to accelerate modestly during 2026, reaching a 2.5 percent annualized pace by 2026 Q4,” the economists wrote.

The report notes that the Federal Reserve has started cutting interest rates after keeping them at a 23-year high of 5.25% to 5.5% for 14 months. The rate was reduced by 50 basis points in September and 25 basis points in November, bringing it to 4.5% to 4.75%.

Additional cuts will depend on economic data, with the economists expecting another 25 basis point cut in December.

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Looking ahead at next year, the economists say they expect the Fed to make four more 25-basis-point cuts in 2025 and reach a range of 3.25–3.5% by the end of the year.

“In our view, the temporary uptick of inflation related to tariffs will not prompt the Fed to tighten policy in 2026,” economists wrote. “We believe that risk management concerns related to the potential negative growth effects of tariffs, which played a role in the 2019 rate cuts, will balance the upside risks from new tax cuts, prompting the Fed to stand pat.”

cwilliams@detroitnews.com

@CWilliams_DN



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Bullock scores 20 as South Dakota knocks off Western Michigan 80-76

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Bullock scores 20 as South Dakota knocks off Western Michigan 80-76


Associated Press

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Quandre Bullock scored 20 points off of the bench to lead South Dakota past Western Michigan 80-76 on Wednesday night.

Bullock also contributed three steals for the Coyotes (5-1). Paul Bruns scored 18 points, shooting 6 for 13 (3 for 8 from 3-point range) and 3 of 3 from the free-throw line. Cameron Fens had 16 points and shot 7 of 9 from the field and 2 for 4 from the foul line.

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The Broncos (2-4) were led by Markhi Strickland, who posted 20 points and six rebounds. Western Michigan also got 13 points and six rebounds from Owen Lobsinger. Javaughn Hannah also recorded 12 points.

Bullock scored 12 points in the first half and South Dakota went into the break trailing 34-33. Bruns’ 18-point second half helped South Dakota close out the four-point victory.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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