Staff Reports
A lawsuit alleging multiple Republican Senate candidates submitted fraudulently signed nomination petitions has been filed by Michigan Democrats with the state's Board of State Canvassers. The complaint states that it is against state law for GOP candidates for the U.S. Senate to have phony signatures on their petitions. Candidate validation in Michigan is contingent upon obtaining 15,000 valid signatures from state voters.
Michigan Democrats are accusing Republican Senate candidates of signature fraud, and have filed a complaint to the state’s Board of State Canvassers.
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 19, 2024
Republican Senate candidate Lavora Barnes, the chairwoman of the Michigan Democratic Party, insisted for an expedited inquiry into the nomination petitions. Four candidates were listed in detail in the petitions, according to an examination of them: businessman Sandy Pensler and former representatives Mike Rogers, Justin Amash, and Peter Meijer. Meijer is no longer in the race, but the other contenders are still being watched closely.
The charges were written off as a "antidemocratic stunt" by supporters of Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, according to Chris Gustafson, the Rogers campaign's director of communications. He implied that the accusations were a botched attempt to deflect attention from how the Biden-Slotkin agenda was affecting working families in Michigan.
In addition, Sandy Pensler addressed the purported infraction, claiming that the Democrats were trying to keep Republicans off the ballot because he had gathered over 26,000 signatures and was obviously eligible to be on it.
Claims that opponents were removed from the ballot due to signature fraud are not unusual in political contests; Democrats and Republicans have both made them in the past. On August 6, both parties will hold their primaries, and the complaint is expected to affect the next election.
