Michigan voter who was registered but denied a ballot settles lawsuit for $20,000

DETROIT — A community in western Michigan has agreed to a $20,000 settlement in a lawsuit by a woman who was turned away from her polling place in 2022 despite registering online to vote, her attorneys said Monday.

Ashleigh Smith made many trips to her polling place in Muskegon County but was told that her address wasn't turning up in an electronic roster of voters and that she wouldn't be given a ballot on Nov. 8, 2022.

By the evening, Holton Township Clerk Jill Colwell-Coburn told Smith “she was sorry but that there was nothing more she could do,” the lawsuit alleged.

Smith said she had a voter registration receipt and a sticker to put on her driver's license to show her new address.

Smith could have been given a provisional ballot, which would have given local officials a few days to try to clear up the problem. The township also could have offered to simply register her again on the spot, attorney Mark Brewer told The Associated Press.

“No voter should ever have to leave a polling place without voting,” Brewer said, noting changes in Michigan election law in recent years. “To their credit, they recognized that what they did was indefensible. The case settled pretty quickly.”

A message seeking comment from an attorney for the township and clerk wasn't immediately returned Monday.

They “acted in good faith and with a reasonable belief that their actions were in compliance with all applicable statutory and common law,” lawyer Bogomir Rajsic III said in a March court filing.