GOP Sues Michigan Paper, Charging 'Defamation'

By: Dexter Hill A Michigan Republican official has filed a defamation suit against the Michigan Messenger, claiming a reporter for the Web site fabricated quotes from him on alleged GOP plans to stop Macomb County residents from voting.

?We stand by our story. We stand by our reporter. We knew that there was the possibility [of the Michigan GOP suing for defamation],? CEO of the Center for Independent Media, David Bennahum, told E&P today.

In a Messenger story last month, party chairman James Carabelli was quoted saying that party volunteers would challenge residents on foreclosure lists attempting to vote on Election Day.

Michigan election rules allow for volunteers from each party to challenge a voter?s eligibility if there is reason to believe that the person is not a ?true resident of the city or township,? the Messenger reported. GOP election challengers in Macomb County would make sure that people weren?t voting from those addresses, party chairman Carabelli reportedly said in a telephone interview with the Messenger.

The Michigan Republican Party then demanded that the Messenger retract its article. Carabelli claimed that his quotes in the article were ?fabricated.? The Messenger stood by its story and refused to pull it, claiming solid reporting and a bipartisan record.

The Messenger, did, however, revise the story after being challenged by an Ohio GOP official. Douglas J. Preisse, a Republican Party chairman in Columbus, claimed that his interview with the Columbus Dispatch was misrepresented in the Messenger article. Preisse said that he had not stated or implied the story?s claim that he had not ruled out challenging voters based on ?foreclosure related address issues,? according to the Messenger, which then revised the article.

Less than a week later, the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee had filed a lawsuit in federal court against the GOP?s reported plan. Bob Bauer of the Obama campaign reportedly called using the foreclosure lists a ?voter caging? technique that was an attempt to block legal voters in Michigan.

Caging describes when mass mailings marked with ?do not forward? instructions are sent to a list of addresses. Any returned letters are then used to challenge a voter who claims an address as their legal residence. Michigan residents may still be eligible to vote legally despite their names appearing on these foreclosure lists. Michigan law allows individuals who have lost their homes within two months of Election Day to cast a ballot in their old precinct.