January 08, 2018 10:23 AM
UPDATED 1 MINUTE AGO
A federal judge says some Michigan lawmakers must sit for interviews about a law that bans straight-party voting.
The questions will be limited to what they might have said about their motives to people outside their offices. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mona Majzoub (MAY'-zoub) says communications between lawmakers and their staff are protected.
The depositions are part of a lawsuit. Straight-party voting means making a single mark on a ballot to pick candidates of one party. Critics of the ban say it violates the rights of black voters in urban areas who typically vote for Democrats.
A judge suspended the law in 2016, but the litigation is ongoing.
Majzoub's decision affects Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof; Sen. Marty Knollenberg; Sen. David Robertson; Rep. Michael McCready; and former Rep. Lisa Lyons.
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