Michigan Judge Rejects Benson's Election Guidance On Mail-In Ballots With Mismatched Numbers

Michigan Advance

December 5, 2025

A Michigan Court of Claims judge has ruled against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in a lawsuit challenging a portion of her election guidance on mail-in ballots.

Benson had said that ballots returned with mismatched numbers between the ballot stub and the envelope should be counted as a “challenged ballot,” but Judge Brock A. Swartzle ruled Wednesday that if the numbers do not match, the vote cannot be counted.

Swartzle’s order specifically noted that in Michigan election law, as amended in February 2024, rules about the ballot stub and envelope numbers matching were written into law.

“While the Secretary can issue instructions and guidance, those must be fully consistent with the laws of this state,” he writes.

The case, brought by the Republican National Committee, the Michigan Republican Party and Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry, was first filed in state court in September 2024.

Benson’s lawyers had argued that because there was no specific instruction in the law about what to do with a ballot if it was returned with mismatching numbers, it fell within her realm to make a decision on. Swartzle pushed back on that argument, writing that though there is no specific guidance on what to do in that situation, the law is clear that such a ballot should not count.

“Our Legislature could not have been clearer: if the condition is met—i.e., if the numbers match—then the ballot is to be tabulated,” Swartzle wrote. “The obverse is equally plain and unambiguous: when the numbers do not match, or when no match can be made because there is a missing stub, the board of election inspectors has no statutory authority to tabulate the ballot.”

Swartzle left one question open for a further decision on the case, and asked both parties to submit further briefs on what should be done with an absentee ballot with mismatching numbers, including if an elector should be granted the chance to cure the ballot.

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