LANSING, Mich. — The Democratic National Committee submitted briefs Monday against two election lawsuits brought by Republicans in Michigan courts, arguing the GOP was attempting to "undermine faith in our electoral system."

The filings spotlighted Michigan as a crucial battleground state, six months before the November election, and also highlighted the significant role judges will likely play this year, amid a heightened focus on the policies and personnel guiding voting across the nation.

After the last presidential election, Republican Donald Trump's supporters unleashed a stream of suits — most of them quickly rejected in Michigan — advancing false claims that victory had been stolen from him by widespread fraud.

On Monday, lawyers for the Democratic National Committee, which is working to reelect President Joe Biden, said two suits filed by the Republican National Committee in Michigan in March were part of "extensive" and "wide-ranging" efforts to make people believe the upcoming election will be unfair.

"The only practical effect of this litigation is to sow doubt about the integrity of Michigan’s elections and generate talking points for future claims of voter fraud," the Democratic attorneys wrote in one of their briefs.

The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit on March 13 in Michigan's Western District federal court, saying Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had failed to maintain "clean and accurate" voter registration records and allowed dozens of counties to have more active registered voters than adult residents.

Then, on March 28, the Republican committee submitted a separate suit in the Michigan Court of Claims, asserting Benson, who is a Democrat, had improperly issued guidance telling clerks to presume signatures submitted for absentee voting were valid.

“Michigan’s state Constitution is very clear: Election officials have to verify the identity of voters casting absentee ballots," said Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, in a statement in March. "Jocelyn Benson is yet again working to undermine election integrity by secretly instructing officials to disregard and circumvent these clear requirements.

"The RNC is suing Benson because Michiganders deserve election integrity, not underhanded Democrat schemes."

However, Benson's guidance said an initial presumption of validity didn't mean all signatures were presumed to be valid without further review, as Democratic lawyers noted in briefs they submitted to the courts Monday morning.

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