Michigan’s Seven-Day Rule Faces a 22-Month Question
On August 12, attorney Kevin Kijewski filed a verified complaint in the Michigan Court of Claims for Bridgewater Township Clerk Michelle McQueer. The case challenges Rule R 168.48, issued under Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s authority. The rule requires clerks to delete electronic poll book software and related files within seven days after an election is certified. McQueer argues that deadline clashes with 52 U.S.C. § 20701, which requires election officers to preserve records connected to federal voting for 22 months. Section 20702 makes willful destruction, concealment, or alteration of those records a federal crime, carrying up to a $1,000 fine, one year in prison, or both. Michigan law, MCL 168.811, also bars destroying certain election records before the same 22-month period. Government paperwork may not sound thrilling, but a seven-day deletion clock and a 22-month preservation law are not exactly singing from the same hymnal.
What McQueer Says Could Disappear
McQueer contends that electronic poll books hold unique details, including activity logs, timestamps, ballot transactions, and operator actions. She says printed reports and the Qualified Voter File do not fully preserve that information. Once those files are deleted, those details are gone. Her complaint asks the court to declare the seven-day rule invalid or unenforceable where it conflicts with longer retention duties, and to block enforcement against protected records. That is the relief requested in the complaint, not a final judgment described in the supplied account.
The Lawyer Behind the Challenge
Kijewski, a former Republican candidate for Michigan attorney general, first gained statewide attention after successfully defending Clifford Frost, one of the Republican alternate electors targeted by Attorney General Dana Nessel. After the charges against Frost were dismissed, Kijewski sought the attorney general nomination on a platform focused on ending partisan lawfare and restoring the rule of law. His work for McQueer now places Michigan’s election-record retention policy under another legal spotlight.
Not Benson’s First Court Fight
The complaint comes after an earlier setback for Benson in the Michigan Court of Claims. In 2020, she issued guidance telling local clerks to apply a strong presumption in favor of accepting absentee ballot signatures and to look for “any redeeming qualities” when comparing them. Allegan County Clerk Robert Genetski and the Michigan Republican Party sued, arguing the guidance was effectively a binding rule adopted without following the Administrative Procedures Act. In March 2021, the court agreed and ruled the signature-matching guidance invalid. The decision came too late to affect the 2020 election, but it still marked a clear legal loss for the secretary of state.
Other Legal Pressure Around Benson
The broader disputes include workplace discrimination lawsuits filed by multiple Black employees in the Michigan Department of State, alleging a racially hostile environment, unequal treatment, and retaliation. One former employee received a $775,000 settlement, while additional lawsuits followed in 2026. Reports described those filings as at least the fourth such complaint in recent years. The account also says Benson has resisted the Trump Justice Department’s demands for Michigan’s complete voter rolls, providing only a limited public version while fighting broader disclosure in federal court. Former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox is suing for records tied to Benson’s 2014-2018 service on the Southern Poverty Law Center board. Cox and House Republicans have demanded transparency into that service and allegations involving the organization, while the supplied account provides no further result on that dispute.
BREAKING: James O’Keefe Releases ANOTHER Shocking Undercover Video From Michigan Showing Him Asking “Voters” About Duplicate Absentee Envelopes For Same Person
Link in the comments. pic.twitter.com/5sJocsRYVu
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) August 11, 2026
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