Following Lawsuit, Michigan County Official Swears He’ll Certify Election Results
Robert Froman — a Republican member of Kalamazoo, Michigan’s board of canvassers — pledged to certify the results of the November 2024 election after previously claiming he’d decline to do so if the race was “stolen” from former President Donald Trump.
Froman walked back his refusal to certify in response to a lawsuit filed against him last week by the ACLU of Michigan and two voters, who argued that the board of county canvassers has a mandatory duty to certify election results under the Michigan Constitution and state election law.
Froman is one of four members who serves on the Kalamazoo County Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for canvassing votes cast within the county and certifying election results for all national, state and local offices.
The ACLU of Michigan’s legal action ensued following local reporting from The Detroit News that highlighted Froman’s open willingness to defy his legal obligation to certify.
Froman specifically said he “most definitely” believes the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and avowed that he wouldn’t certify the 2024 presidential election if it unfolded in a similar manner to the 2020 race.
A Kalamazzo judge dismissed the legal challenge today after Froman signed a sworn affidavit in which he attested to his legal obligation to certify the November 2024 election. As part of the affidavit, Froman agreed that he is required under state law to certify the results of the election based solely on tabulated returns.
“I may not, and will not, refuse to certify results of the election based on any information extrinsic to the statement of returns,” the affidavit states.
Phil Mayor, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Michigan, said in a release that “this lawsuit, and its swift resolution, should put everyone on notice that pro-democracy groups will remain vigilant and ready to act immediately if officials fail to follow the law.”
Mayor added that “anyone who tries to convert canvassing boards into a platform for partisan gamesmanship will be subject to quick and decisive legal action.”
In 2020, the board of canvassers in Wayne County, Michigan initially refused to certify election results on the basis of false allegations of fraud and direct legal pressure from Trump.
Across the country, voting rights advocates are concerned about the prospect of election deniers refusing to certify results in key battleground states, like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Another senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Michigan, Theresa Lee, said “canvassers should be on notice that it is up to voters to choose their elected officials, and any attempt to subvert our election processes, and functionally our democracy, will be met in court.”
Original post, Sept. 3
The ACLU of Michigan and two voters sued a member of the Kalamazoo County Board of Canvassers on Tuesday after he claimed that he won’t certify the 2024 election if it’s “stolen” from former President Donald Trump.
The target of the lawsuit, Robert Froman, is a Republican and is one of four members of a county board in Michigan that is “responsible for certification of election returns for all national, state and local offices,” according to the county government’s website.
In an Aug. 6 article, the Detroit News reported that Froman said “he ‘most definitely’ believes the 2020 election was stolen from [former President Donald] Trump,” and when “asked if he would certify the 2024 presidential election if it unfolded the same way the 2020 one did, Froman replied, ‘No. And that’s why I’m there.’”
The ACLU asked a court in Kalamazoo County to rule that Froman is required to certify election results under the Michigan Constitution.
“It is critical the court make clear that county canvassers have a legal duty to certify the election based on the tabulated votes. That’s how democracy works,” Theresa Lee, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said in a Tuesday statement.
Froman and the Kalamazoo County Board of Canvassers declined to comment on the case.
In the lawsuit, the ACLU argued the board of county canvassers has a mandatory duty to certify election results under the state’s constitution and election law.
“Since at least 1892, Michigan courts have held that canvassers cannot ‘go behind’ the returns and challenge the results based on allegations (or even evidence) of voter fraud,” the plaintiffs stated in the lawsuit.
The ACLU also emphasized the fact that disputes over election certification have been occurring all over Michigan, not just in Kalamazoo County. For example, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit to try to stop the certification of 2020 election results in Wayne County, which includes Detroit.
Also, the ACLU noted in the lawsuit that since 2020, “election deniers have increasingly been appointed to positions in various county boards, including at least in Wayne, Antrim, Muskegon, Berrien, and Kalamazoo counties,” and that the “threat of a disruption of the electoral system in Michigan this November is very real.”