ACLU drops suit against Michigan canvasser over election certification duties

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has resolved a recently filed lawsuit against a Republican canvasser in Kalamazoo County who said he would not certify the Nov. 5 election if it unfolded in a fashion similar to the 2020 presidential election.

The ACLU filed suit last week in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court arguing canvasser Robert Froman's failure to certify results would be a violation of the state constitution and state election law. The group sought a court order indicating that "county canvassers may not refuse to certify election results based on information extrinsic to the statements of return."

Froman, a Republican member of the Kalamazoo County canvassing board whose term began in 2023, signed an affidavit Monday agreeing that he is required to certify the results of the Nov. 5 election "based solely on the statements of returns from the election day precincts, early voting sites and absent voting counting boards in the county and any corrected returns."

"I may not, and will not," Froman's affidavit continued, "refuse to certify results of the election based on any information extrinsic to the statement of returns."

In return for Froman's sworn statement, the ACLU agreed to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit with the caveat that, should the group be forced to relitigate the issue after the election, it can do so by serving Kalamazoo County officials via email.

The agreement provides a "quick and efficient" route back to court should Froman not hold to his affidavit after the election, said Philip Mayor, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan.

"From the beginning, this lawsuit was not just about Kalamazoo County, but making sure that county canvassers throughout Michigan understand that they have a nondiscretionary duty to certify our elections," Mayor said.

The speedy resolution of the case, Mayor said, demonstrates for canvassers across the state that "there is no legal defense for refusal to do their job, and if they do refuse to do their job they will be met with swift and decisive legal action.”

Froman told The Detroit News last month that he believed the 2020 election was "most definitely" stolen and that he would not certify the November presidential results if the election unfolds like the 2020 election did.

"No. And that's why I'm there," Froman told The News in August. Froman later said he would not do anything that's illegal.

Froman's comments came as a Detroit News analysis of Michigan's 83 county board of canvassers found 55% of the 332 county canvassers in the state were not serving in November 2020.

The lawsuit from the ACLU came after other county canvassing boards in Michigan have in recent years delayed or disputed certification.

Wayne County canvassers engaged in a dispute over certification in 2020 and the Delta County board only certified its May election results after intervention by the Bureau of Elections. The ACLU expressed concern in its suit that the same behavior would be repeated in November.

The ACLU in its lawsuit said Froman later denied in messages with the ACLU making "any of the statements you say I did," but he "never denied the substance of these remarks and refused to seek a correction from the newspaper.

"Even when his legal obligation to vote to certify the results of the election was brought to his attention, at no point did he confirm that he would certify the results of the 2024 election regardless of allegations or evidence of election fraud," the ACLU's lawsuit said.

The ACLU noted in the suit that county canvassers have a "ministerial, nondiscretionary duty" to certify the election based on returns from early voting sites, precincts and absent voter counting boards. Canvassers cannot challenge the results based on allegations or evidence of voter fraud; instead, those allegations much be brought by a candidate in court or investigated by law enforcement.

_____

(Staff writer Craig Mauger contributed.)

_____