Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) failed to collect enough valid signatures to appear on the Democratic primary ballot, Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett said on Tuesday.
“It is my determination that in accordance with the current laws and statuses of the State of Michigan, the nominating petitions filed by Congressman John Conyers Jr. are insufficient to allow his name to appear on the August 5, 2014 Primary Ballot,” Garrett said in a statement according to The Hill.
Now, Conyers will have to run as a write-in candidate in the primary.
Conyers submitted 2,000 signatures in April, but two of the gatherers were found to not be registered to vote, a legal requirement for people who collect signatures in Michigan. That put Conyers under the minimum number of signatures needed to get on the ballot.
The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged the law that requires signature collectors to be registered voters and the Conyers campaign is preparing its own legal challenge.
Conyers’ campaign chairman, state Sen. Bert Johnson (D-MI), said to the Detroit News on Monday that the congressman would prepare a legal challenge as well as make preparations for a write-in campaign.
Time for a younger Democrat.
Well congressman when you don’t put in your work ,that’s what happens.
I see a shortsighted tricky game of a bad politician doing harm to one of the LIONS of the house.
The moment this gets in front of a judge, Conyers will be back on the ballot. Rules that limit who can circulate a petition have been struck down again and again in federal courts.
I have to ask the question; Why weren’t they registered to vote? If they are astute enough to wander around getting signatures for a prominent politician surely they would know enough to be registered. This has been a hot topic for some time now.
The law is absurd, but so is the idea that the Senator and his campaign workers didn’t know the law.