LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Fraudulent signatures could disrupt Michigan’s congressional races this year as every declared Republican Senate candidate faces new calls to investigate their efforts to get into the August primary and choose a nominee for the Democratic U.S. House is unlikely to pass.
Just two years ago, several high-profile gubernatorial campaigns fell into the same trap and lost access to the elections.
Adam Holliera former senator who has received significant Democratic support in his primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedaris expected to be barred from the August primary after county elections staff determined he did not have enough valid signatures for nomination petitions.
Republicans vying for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat now face similar accusations after state and national Democratic groups filed a request Friday to investigate their nomination requests.
The Michigan Democratic Party and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee alleged in a letter to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers that the signatures on the petitions of each of the Republican Senate candidates “show patterns indicative of the presence of possible forgery and other fraudulent collection tactics of signatures’. .”
Senate candidates in Michigan had to submit 15,000 valid signatures by April 23 to qualify for the August primary. Michigan election law allows seven days to challenge these signatures. Although Democratic groups missed this deadline, they have asked the state commission to open an investigation, which is allowed under Michigan election law.
The petitions are worth investigating, according to the letter, because they show signs of “a possible recurrence of the behavior of petition circulators during the 2022 elections.”
Five Republicans seeking to run for governor in 2022 were kept off the ballot after fraudulent signatures were found on their nomination petitions. Three people have been charged with forgery and other crimes related to the fake petition signatures, but no candidate has been personally accused of knowingly filing fraudulent petitions.
Michigan’s battle for the U.S. Senate is one of the most closely contested elections in the country after longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced she will retire this year, leaving the battleground open in a year when each party is vying for control of the Supreme Chamber.
Former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Justin Amash are vying for the Republican nomination along with businessman Sandy Pensler, but all face accusations of fraudulent signatures from Democratic groups. Rogers, the Republican front-runner, has submitted the maximum allowed 30,000 signatures. To be ineligible, half of them would have to be considered invalid.
In a statement, Pensler expressed confidence that he would qualify for the ballot after submitting 26,000 signatures and said that “Democrats cannot beat Republicans at the ballot box, so it appears they are trying to put Republicans out of the ballot.” to eliminate.”
A spokesperson for Rogers called the investigation request an “anti-democratic stunt.” Amash’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic frontrunner in the race for the U.S. Senate, also faces a challenge to her signatures. Her campaign has dismissed the challenge as “not serious” and claims the number of signatures in dispute is insufficient to remove Slotkin from the ballot.
In the race for Detroit’s U.S. House of Representatives seat, Hollier was seen as the biggest threat to Thanedar winning a second term, drawing support from several prominent Michigan Democrats, including Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the leadership of the Black Congressional Caucus.
Thanedar disputed Hollier’s signatures earlier this month, and a report from the Wayne County Clerk’s Office made public Thursday ruled that Hollier did not have enough valid signatures. Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett is expected to decide in the coming days whether or not Hollier will appear on the ballot.
“This is voter suppression by any other name. We are carefully assessing our next steps and will have more to say soon,” said Hollier’s attorney, Melvin Butch Hollowell.
Hollier had submitted 1,550 signatures to meet the voting requirement, more than the 1,000 needed, but later said some signatures showed “evidence of fraudulent signatures” and that the “fraudulent activity was not conducted at the direction” of the campaign.
The campaign is forwarding the fraudulent signatures “to the appropriate authorities for additional investigation,” according to a statement.
