The Michigan Republican Party is demanding, via press release, a retraction of the Michigan Messenger story “Lose your house, lose your vote.”

In the article, Macomb County Republican Party chairman James Carabelli was quoted as saying, “We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses.”

Carabelli contends the quotes as reported by Eartha Jane Melzer were “fabricated.” State Republican chairman Saul Anuzis charges the story is a “complete fabrication.”

The story will not be retracted because Carabelli’s and Anuzis’ claims are without merit. The quotes were accurately reported. Melzer, the Michigan Messenger and the Center for Independent Media stand behind this story 100 percent.

It is worth noting that Carabelli and Anuzis have yet to send the demand for a retraction to Melzer, the Messenger’s editors or the Center for Independent Media. To make such a far-fetched charge to other media outlets but not to us suggests that their motivation may be more political than factual.

The facts are these:

On Monday afternoon, Eartha Melzer called the Macomb County Republican Party as part of her coverage of preparations for Election Day in Michigan.

Melzer was put in touch with Carabelli and spoke with him around 4 p.m.

Her notes show that she asked him about plans to have election challengers at the polls on Election Day. As they spoke, she typed a question about Republican voter challengers: “How will they know if the addresses match? How will you know which addresses to check?”

Her notes show that Carabelli responded, “We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses.”

Melzer’s notes then show she asked a follow-up question: “How will you know people are who they say they are?”

Carabelli responded, “I would rather not tell you all the things we are doing.”

Eartha Melzer is a prize-winning journalist. Her string of investigative reports on Sovereign Deed, a private security firm whose founder faked a military record in order to get tax breaks from the state, won honorable mention for the National Press Club’s 2008 Sandy Hume award given for excellence in political journalism.

I edited Melzer’s article. I have been a Washington journalist for 28 years. From 1992 to 2007, I was an editor and reporter for the Sunday Outlook section, the Style section and the Metro Section of the Washington Post, as well as an editor and columnist for washingtonpost.com. Needless to say, I have never reported, edited or published a story that included fabricated quotes.

We are not partisans of the Democratic Party, as alleged in the press release. Case in point: When Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a liberal Democrat, arranged tax breaks for Sovereign Deed, our coverage was critical. As a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization, we do not favor any party. We favor accountability.

Carabelli’s and Anuzis’ unsupported insinuations are unfortunate. We hope they will be withdrawn when the heat of the moment passes.

As for Anuzis’ assertion that “There is no such plan [to use foreclosure lists to challenge voters], and there never will be such a plan,” we hope this is true.

If the Michigan Republican Party truly has no plans to challenge voters based on foreclosure addresses, we are happy to hear it. We agree there is no place for such voter suppression tactics in Michigan or any other state in 2008.

As Ronald Reagan said, “Trust but verify.” We trust Anuzis’ new position, and we will verify it in the weeks to come.