U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman has ordered Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to appear in court on Friday for a hearing over her plans to require the use of citizenship check-off boxes on voter applications statewide for the Nov. 6 presidential election.
Johnson doesn't want to go, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Her office filed an emergency motion Monday asking Borman to allow Christ Thomas, her director of elections, to take her place. The judge had not ruled on that request, court records showed.
Attorneys for a voter-rights coalition that filed a lawsuit challenging the use of the check boxes asked that the motion be denied, arguing that Johnson is the state's chief election officer and the person who is responsible for the decision to include the check box on applications to vote and absentee voter ballots.
