A Michigan judge has ruled that the state’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s guidance last October relating to ballot signature verification wasn’t in compliance with the law and is invalid. “The standards issued by defendant Benson on October 6, 2020, with respect to signature-matching requirements amounted to a ‘rule’ that should have been promulgated in accordance with the APA,” Christopher Murray, the chief judge from the Michigan Court of Claims, ruled last week in the court order. APA refers to the state’s Administrative Procedures Act. “And absent compliance with the APA, the ‘rule’ is invalid.” Michigan Republican Party and Allegan County clerk Robert Genetski had filed the lawsuit on Nov. 2, 2020, against Benson and Jonathan Brater, director of the Michigan Bureau of Elections. The plaintiffs claimed that the guidance Benson issued last October had violated the APA and should be nullified. They also asked the court to declare that …