Democrats and Republicans battled in the media and the courts Tuesday over hotly disputed claims that the GOP could use lists of foreclosed homes to bar voters from the polls in November.

The fight — started by an online publication that reported Macomb County’s GOP chief had discussed such a plan — is just the latest in a decadeslong battle between Democrats, who accuse Republicans of trying to suppress Democratic votes, and Republicans, who accuse their opponents of vote fraud.

The issue arose last week, when the online Michigan Messenger quoted James Carabelli, the Macomb County GOP chairman, as saying, “We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses.” Carabelli denies making the statement, and says the county party has never had such a plan.

State officials, and Democrats, said it’s not clear any such plan could legally challenge voters’ right to cast a ballot. Even if voters have been foreclosed, state law allows a grace period of 30 days after moving to vote in their old jurisdiction, or 60 days if they move within the same city or township.

In their lawsuit, the Obama campaign and the DNC sought to tie the allegation to Republican practices dating to the 1980s. Bauer compared the idea to the practice of “caging,” the subject of legal battles as recently as 2004, when Republicans challenged 35,000 Ohio voter registrations after voters at registered addresses failed to return postcards mailed by the GOP.