The House Oversight Committee is probing Michigan after reports indicated that noncitizens were discovered on the state’s voter rolls and jury pools.
In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. John James (R-MI) requested a briefing and inquired as to whether the Department of Justice is aware of the development.
“Non-citizens have appeared in the state’s jury pool, and in some instances, have been registered to vote. The Committee is requesting a briefing to understand the U.S. Department of Justice’s role in investigating such matters, and the potential for similar issues to be occurring nationwide,” the letter said. “Michigan’s jury pool is drawn from individuals holding driver’s licenses and state identification cards (state IDs). Under Michigan law, individuals who apply for a driver’s license or state ID are automatically registered to vote unless they affirmatively decline.”
Macomb County Clerk Anthony G. Forlini shared last month that noncitizens were found on jury pools at “an alarming rate.”
“Our jury service summons are based on random draws from the driver’s license bank. Frequently non-citizens slip through because citizenship was not flagged in the Secretary of State database,” Forlini stated.
“What we have found is very disturbing — 239 non-citizens were found in the jury pool over a four-month period. In a cross check of our voter rolls it appears that 14 of these prospective jurors were registered to vote at some point in time,” he added. “Our [Qualified Voter File] shows instances where some of these non-citizens potentially having a voting history. One in particular appears to have voted several times, all of which could result in felony charges.”
On the same day the lawmakers sent the letter, a federal judge dismissed a DOJ lawsuit to obtain Michigan’s voter rolls.
“There is simply no basis in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for the United States’s suggestion that it can file a [Help America Vote Act] claim, allege no violations of HAVA, and obtain information to support its (as-yet-nonexistent) claim via discovery,” U.S. District Judge Hala Jarbou wrote.
