Three Republicans have now filed legal challenges to being kept off the August gubernatorial primary ballot. Michael Markey filed today with the Michigan Court of Appeals.
Markey used the court’s electronic portal to file on a state holiday. Republicans James Craig and Perry Johnson have also filed challenges to being removed. The central issue in each case is what appears to be thousands of fraudulent signatures collected by paid petition circulators. Also, how the state Bureau of Elections managed an unprecedented situation.
Markey’s filing says, among other things, the candidate should be allowed on the ballot because he had no direct knowledge of any petition fraud. Also, that the Bureau of Elections violated its own standards and state law. He wants the court to put a stop to printing ballots, despite a looming deadline, until the case is resolved.
