This post has been updated with responses from Michigan Republican Party Director of Research and Communications Bill Nowling. Mr. Knowling said the report at the Michigan Messenger is false.

Via Digg comes the following item at the Michigan Messenger: ‘The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.’

“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,” party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week, the MM reported.

State election rules allow the state party to ‘assign “election challengers” to polls to monitor the election. In addition to observing the poll workers, these volunteers can challenge the eligibility of any voter provided they “have a good reason to believe” that the person is not eligible to vote. One allowable reason is that the person is not a “true resident of the city or township”.’

J. Gerald Hebert, a former voting rights litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, was asked about the report. He said that a foreclosure notice is probably not sufficient “for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”

According to voter challenge directives handed down by Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, voter challenges need only be “based on information obtained through a reliable source or means,” the Michigan Messenger claimed.

“But poll workers are not allowed to ask the reason” for the challenges.

Michigan Messenger went on to claim that the McCain campaign might be directly involved. ‘McCain’s regional headquarters are housed in the office building of foreclosure specialists Trott & Trott. The firm’s founder, David A. Trott, has raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for the Republican nominee,’ the Michigan Messenger claimed.

Critics have often said in other elections that one party – often enough both though – did its best to prevent a certain group of people from voting. In this particular case, the Michigan Messenger claims the targeted group are African-Americans. Although some may imply that only racism could possibly inspire actions as described by the MM, the more rational explanation is that partisans simply want their party to win elections.

UPDATE: In a response to the news as first reported by the Michigan Messenger, Michigan Republican Party Director of Research and Communications Bill Nowling told PoliGazette:

This story is not true. The Michigan Republican Party is not using foreclosure lists to challenge voters. This has never been discussed. This is not being discussed. This will not be discussed. Period.

UPDATE II: In a later e-mail Mr. Nowling added:

We take this story by the Michigan Messenger to be false. I spoke directly with the chairman of Macomb Country GOP and he says he never said anything to the Messenger as it was reported in the Messenger. The Messenger is a left-leaning blog funded by ultra-Left billionaire George Soros. It is not an independent news source.

That said, there is not now nor has there ever been any plan to use home foreclosure lists to challenge voters. Such a list would be meaningless in determining whether a voter is eligible to vote in a precinct for which they are attempting to vote.

As another note, it is the Michigan Republican Party, the state party, and not the county parties that operates voter integrity programs. County parties have no role in our Election Day Operations programs.

Edited at 6.10 PM ET; changed wording of article to make it clear that the Michigan Messenger’s report does not go undisputed. We regret the earlier wording.