(WXYZ) — Monday, the Michigan Bureau of Elections published a report with the names of 36 petitioners who allegedly submitted fraudulent signatures. That's led to five Republican gubernatorial candidates not making it onto the August primary ballot.
7 Action News spoke with political consultant who said the number of candidates getting rejected from the ballot for bad petition signatures, as well as campaign finance issues is "unprecedented." Mario Morrow said he's not seen this in his 30 or 40 years in politics.
7 Action News also spoke with a petitioner who heard about the debacle and said she's trying to collect signatures legitimately.
“We get to choose what we go out here and petition for. So, I choose the things that are important to me,” petitioner Chantal Jones told 7 Action News.
She said she's petitioning for three ballot initiatives. When approaching people for their signature, Jones said she’s trained on a concept called Pass Validity, where she asks people if they’re registered to vote, what county they’re from, first and last name and verifies their street address.
“Me being a paid petitioner, I actually can get prosecuted and in trouble if I do anything fraudulent," she explained.
In response to those who take shortcuts by writing fraudulent names on their petitions, Jones said, "It makes my job extra hard, and we’re out here doing this for our community.”
She said she’s disheartened to hear people are trying to make a quick buck at the expense of community issues.
Related:
- Petition scandal raises questions about company with ties to election fraud
- Michigan's Attorney General says she expects to investigate petition fraud
- James Craig calls for AG to investigate after election bureau's claims of invalid signature
Political consultant Mario Morrow said despite the signatures being fraudulent at the grassroots level, the failure to get onto the ballot ultimately falls on campaign leadership.
He explained, “Apparently, they hired an organization that allegedly worked for several other candidates, all (running) for the same office and it appears to me that no one asked the question, “Is there an exclusivity with our (campaign)?’”
"It looks like five of those guys are going to have early vacations, and the race now is between those who are going be left on the ballot," Morrow said.
"You can try to appeal, but apparently Mr. Brown saw something that the rest of them should see right now too is like, uh oh, this is a problem. They’re using words like ‘fraudulent,’ which is criminal and that is a problem for the campaign and best things to do is let it go. If you want to run, you’ve got four years to think about it and get your stuff together," he explained.
The Bureau of Elections didn't name the company that allegedly hired the petitioners. However, the bureau alluded to the company in a footnote with a link that detailed previous, unrelated election fraud.
7 Action News called and left a voice message and text for the owner of the company. As of Tuesday evening, we have not heard back yet.
