Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) appears to not have enough signatures to get on the Aug. 5 Democratic primary ballot, Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett told the Detroit Free Press Friday.
At issue is whether two of the people in charge of gathering signatures for Conyers were registered voters, which is a requirement under Michigan law. Legal counsel for Conyers stressed to Roll Call that they expected him to make it onto the ballot.
A candidate must have at least 1,000 valid signatures to get on the ballot, according to Michigan law. In April, Conyers turned in 2,000 signatures to get on the ballot for his re-election. Garrett’s office said that 1,193 of those signatures were valid but if the two-vote gatherers were not registered voters, that puts Conyers under the minimum amount of valid signatures he needs to get on the ballot. Those signature-collectors gathered more than 300 signatures, according to the Free Press.
If Conyers cannot get on the Democratic primary ballot, he would have to run as a write-in candidate in order to retain his seat.
If Conyers, 84, wins re-election he will be serving his 26th term. Conyers is second on the House seniority list behind Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), who is retiring after this term.
