Republicans are suing Detroit after the city’s election commission allegedly appointed seven times more Democratic election inspectors than Republican inspectors, which would classify aa a violation of state law.

“Every single Michigander should have full confidence in the integrity of our elections and the security of their vote, and shady actions like refusing to hire an equal number of Republican poll workers has the opposite effect,” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra said in a statement cited by the Detroit Free Press. “This suit will help protect our right to free, fair, and transparent elections.”

The lawsuit points to 200 Detroit precincts without a Republican election inspector during the August primary, as well as a 7-to-1 imbalance over 335 precincts that provided information on poll worker selection. Detroit has 502 election precincts.

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In total, the Detroit Election Commission appointed 2,337 Democrats and 310 Republican inspectors, though 675 Republicans were nominated by the Republican National Committee. Of those nominated, only 52 were appointed, according to a DEC report cited in the lawsuit.

“Detroit’s failure to hire Republican poll workers is the kind of bad-faith Democrat interference that drives down faith in elections,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump said in a joint statement cited by The Center Square. “The RNC is bringing suit to remedy this completely unacceptable breach of public trust and our unprecedented election integrity campaign will continue to fight in Michigan and nationwide to protect the rights of every voter to have fair, accurate, secure and transparent elections.”

Section 168.674 of Michigan election law states commissioners “shall appoint an equal number, as nearly as possible, of election inspectors in each election precinct from each major political party.”

“Our constitution was founded on the concept that checks and balances are the best way to ensure fairness,” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections founder Patrice Johnson told The Center Square. “When your numbers are out-of-kilter and you don’t have equal representation, the check-and-balance system breaks down.”

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The lawsuit demands Detroit’s election commission use “appropriate practices and procedures to ensure the appointment of an equal number, as nearly as possible, of Republican and Democrat election inspectors” to comply with state law by Oct. 15, Fox News reports.

The RNC lawsuit in Detroit is the second to challenge out of kilter election inspector numbers, following a similar lawsuit in Flint in 2022 that was dismissed by Genesee County Circuit Court Judge Mark Latchana, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Latchana threw out the lawsuit because he said Republicans lacked legal standing, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The Detroit Election Commission did not return a message for comment from Fox News.

The Free Press also left messages with City Clerk Janice Winfrey and Council President Mary Sheffield, and Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallet, although a statement from Mayor Mike Dugan makes clear the city doesn’t plan on discussing the lawsuit.

“The Law Department is not commenting on this pending litigation,” the statement read.

The Federalist notes the 2024 primary isn’t the first time Democratic poll workers have outnumbered Republicans in Detroit. Tallies of spreadsheets obtained and sorted by Michigan Fair Elections shows it was 3,078 Democrats, 331 Republicans, and 1,306 “other” poll workers in the 2022 general election.

For the 2022 primary, it was 3,373 Democrats, 501 Republicans, and 1,396 other. In the 2020 general election it was 3,393 Democrats, 170 Republicans, and 1,923 other, giving Republicans just 3% of the total.

Other analysis found Republicans the city does select as poll workers may not even be Republicans.

“Michigan Fair Elections looked at Detroit poll workers labeled “Republican” to see which party they voted for in 2024 and previous years. Of the 308 on the list, they were able to identify how 143 voted,” The Federalist reports.

“Of those 143 identified Republican poll workers, 44 requested Democrat ballots in the 2024 Presidential primary; 35 requested Democrat ballots in two primary elections (2024 and 2022), 27 requested Democrat ballots in three primaries (2024, 2022, and 2020), and 25 requested Democrat ballots in all 4 primaries (2024, 2022, 2020, and 2018).”

Gates McGavick, senior advisor to Whatley, told the news site the party is working to recruit more poll workers, while leveraging litigation to ensure a fair balance on Election Day.

“We sued Flint, Mich., over that city’s failure to hire Republican poll workers, and have sued counties in Arizona and Nevada over this same issue,” he said. “Poll worker parity is a key plank of our election integrity litigation operation, which has engaged more than 100 lawsuits this cycle alone.”