The August state primary ballot will start to take shape this week with Tuesday’s deadline for candidates for governor and the Legislature to file petition signatures with the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
Some candidates, Governor Gretchen Whitmer among them, have already filed. Others are putting the finishing touches on their petition filings.
It takes 15 thousand signatures of registered voters to qualify for the statewide ballot. Candidates for Congress and the Legislature will also have to file their petitions.
The next step will be for the state Bureau of Elections to check the filings. Election workers will draw a random sample of signatures and check them against voter records.
The process can get contentious when it comes time for that work to be ratified or rejected by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers.
