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If this opinion indicates that it is “FOR PUBLICATION,” it is subject to

revision until final publication in the Michigan Appeals Reports.

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S T A T E O F M I C H I G A N

C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

ROBERT DAVIS,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

FOR PUBLICATION

December 14, 2023

9:35 a.m.

v No. 368615

Wayne Circuit Court

WAYNE COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION, LC No. 23-012484-AW

Defendant-Appellee

and

DONALD J. TRUMP,

Intervening Defendant-Appellee.

ROBERT LABRANT, ANDREW BRADWAY,

NORAH MURPHY, and WILLIAM NOWLING,

Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v No. 368628

Court of Claims

SECRETARY OF STATE, LC No. 23-000137-MZ

Defendant-Appellee,

and

DONALD J. TRUMP,

Intervening Appellee.

Before: LETICA, P.J., and RIORDAN and CAMERON, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

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In Docket No. 368615, plaintiff Robert Davis (“Davis”), as a registered voter, filed suit in

the circuit court, asserting his intent to vote in the Republican primary and challenged the

qualifications of former President Donald J. Trump (“Trump”) to be placed on the ballot by

defendant, the Wayne County Election Commission (“Commission”), and the resulting improper

dilution of votes to other qualified candidates if emergency declaratory relief was not granted.

Davis claimed that the United States Constitution and state election laws prevented Trump from

being included on upcoming election ballots. The circuit court, assumed without deciding that

Davis had standing, then determined that summary disposition was proper under MCR 2.116(C)(8)

in favor of the Commission because it was not authorized to investigate the qualifications of a

presidential candidate. In Docket No. 368628, Robert LaBrant, Andrew Bradway, Norah Murphy,

and William Nowling (“plaintiffs”) alleged that they were registered voters intending to vote in

the 2024 presidential elections. In the Court of Claims, these plaintiffs filed suit against defendant

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Secretary of State, also challenging Trump’s qualification to be

placed on the Michigan ballot in light of the United States Constitution and state election law. The

Court of Claims denied the request for declaratory relief, deciding that state law determined the

placement on an election ballot and that plaintiffs presented a political question that was not

justiciable at that time. The actions were consolidated to advance the efficient administration of

justice.1 We address various arguments concerning the placement of Trump as a candidate on

ballots for the upcoming 2024 Presidential Primary Election. The two lower courts, the Wayne

Circuit Court, and the Court of Claims, rejected Davis’s and plaintiffs’ challenges in the underlying

cases. We affirm in both cases.

I. FACTS

The background of these appeals lies in the United States Constitution. Section 3 of the

Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, commonly referred to as the Insurrection

Clause, states:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President

and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or

under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress,

or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as

an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the

United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or

given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two- thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The crux of the cases before us involves Davis’s and plaintiffs’ claims that Trump engaged in

insurrection and is thus subject to the disqualification under this section of the Fourteenth

Amendment. The questions largely concern whether Trump may appear on the upcoming

presidential primary ballot in Michigan. The underlying suits were brought by Davis and

1 Davis v Wayne Co Election Comm, unpublished order of the Court of Appeals, entered

November 22, 2023 (Docket Nos. 368615 and 368628).

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plaintiffs, registered voters, challenging Trump’s qualifications to be placed on the ballot against

defendants, the Wayne County Election Commission (the Commission) and the Secretary of State.

A. MICHIGAN ELECTION LAW

To put the present matters in context, there are multiple statutes that direct actions by

county election commissions and the Secretary of State. These statutes emanate from Const 1963,

art 2, § 4(2), which provides the Michigan Legislature with the power to “enact laws to regulate

the time, place and manner of all nominations and elections, to preserve the purity of elections, to

preserve the secrecy of the ballot, to guard against abuses of the elective franchise, and to provide

for a system of voter registration and absentee voting.” The Legislature has, in turn, enacted the

Michigan Election Law, MCL 168.1 et seq. Relevant to this matter are several provisions

concerning presidential primary elections, which are found in Chapter XXIV of the Michigan

Election Law, MCL 168.531 et seq., and also MCL 168.689, a statute found in Chapter XXVIII

of the Michigan Election Law, MCL 168.641 et seq., concerning the ballot preparation process by

county election commissions.

MCL 168.614a explains the initial process for identifying candidates to be placed on

presidential primary ballots:

(1) Not later than 4 p.m. of the second Friday in November of the year before the

presidential election, the secretary of state shall issue a list of the individuals

generally advocated by the national news media to be potential presidential

candidates for each party’s nomination by the political parties for which a

presidential primary election will be held under section 613a. The secretary of state

shall make the list issued under this subsection available to the public on an internet

website maintained by the department of state.

(2) Not later than 4 p.m. of the Tuesday following the second Friday in November

of the year before the presidential election, the state chairperson of each political

party for which a presidential primary election will be held under section 613a shall

file with the secretary of state a list of individuals whom they consider to be

potential presidential candidates for that political party. The secretary of state shall

make the lists received under this subsection available to the public on an internet

website maintained by the department of state.

(3) After the issuance of the list under subsection (1) and after receipt of names

from the state chairperson of each political party under subsection (2), the secretary

of state shall notify each potential presidential candidate on the lists of the

provisions of this act relating to the presidential primary election.

MCL 168.615a(1) then explains the process for placing candidates on presidential primary ballots,

a task given to the Secretary of State:

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the secretary of state shall

cause the name of a presidential candidate notified by the secretary of state under

section 614a to be printed on the appropriate presidential primary ballot for that

political party. A presidential candidate notified by the secretary of state under