After three reviews, the Wayne County Clerk's ruled officially Tuesday that Congressman John Conyers failed to get enough legit signatures to have his name on the August primary ballot.
He ended up more than 400 signatures short of the 1,000 needed to get on the August ballot. The clerk found that some of the petition circulators weren't registered as voters as required by law.
The rejection could set the stage for a write-in campaign. But Conyer's has options.
Conyers can appeal within three days to the Secretary of State’s Office. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson. He could also appeal the ruling to the Wayne County Circuit Court or federal court.
Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett issued a statement, according to WXYZ:
"It is a very unfortunate circumstance that an issue with a circulator of a petition would disqualify the signature of valid registered voter. However, I am bound by the current laws and statutes of the State of Michigan that set forth very specific and narrow instructions regarding candidate petitions and the authority of the County Clerk.
Seeing that I do not have the authority to rule on the constitutionality of laws and statutes, that the County Clerks are bound by, it is my determination that in accordance with the current laws and statutes 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.
Although I am not the final arbiter, I eagerly await the courts’ review of the constitutionality of the laws and statutes pertaining to petition circulators."
