Michigan’s Democrat secretary of state violated state law in the 2020 election when she issued “guidance” on the evaluation of absentee ballots, a judge ruled last week.

State Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray ruled Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s guidance issued to Michigan clerks in early October that instructed them to presume the accuracy of absentee ballot signatures is invalid.

The judge said Benson did not go through the proper rule-making process when issuing the guidance and that clerks do not need to comply with it for future elections.

“The presumption is found nowhere in state law,” wrote Murray. “The mandatory presumption goes beyond the realm of mere advice and direction, and instead is a substantive directive that adds to the pertinent signature-matching standards.”

Writing for TownHall. com, columnist Matt Vespa noted: “It’s too late now, but vindication came to one of the Trump campaign election violation claims lobbed after Election Day. The Michigan courts ruled that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson overstepped her authority when she issued unilateral changes for absentee ballots in the state. It all centered on voter signature verification. If she wanted to do that, she was going to have to get the state legislature’s approval. There was a reason why she didn’t pursue this route: Michigan’s state legislature is majority Republican. So, she took this for a spin, and it worked. The Trump campaign’s claim was vindicated, but the damage is done.”

Michigan is one of six states where Trump and his surrogates alleged widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, costing him a victory. Republicans have argued that Article II of the Constitution requires election rules to be decided by state legislatures and not elected officials.