19 Michigan Voters Submitted Declarations to the Board of State Canvassers Stating They Do Not Recall Signing The Petitions
LANSING – The Michigan Democratic Party, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and a Michigan voter submitted a supplemental letter to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers detailing additional indications of apparent fraud in Republican Senate candidates’ nominating petitions. The letter follows the request for investigation submitted last week after a limited review of Republican Senate candidates’ nominating petitions showed indications of apparent fraud.
Continued review of the Republican Senate candidates’ petitions has demonstrated additional indications of apparently fraudulent signatures, including:
- Declarations from 19 Michigan voters stating they did not sign or do not recall signing the petitions;
- Errors and markers similar to those previously confirmed by the Board of State Canvassers to be indications of fraud;
- Petition sheets containing significant numbers of signatures from geographically disparate parts of Michigan;
- Additional indications of a potential “round-robin” scheme;
- Voters not registered in Michigan; and
- Circulators who have been accused of engaging in fraudulent signature collection activity in other petition challenges before the Board of State Canvassers.
The review revealed that Mike Rogers’ nominating petitions contain 12,293 signatures submitted by circulators who potentially engaged in fraud. In addition, a review of Rogers’ sample showed that approximately 23% of signatures were from unregistered voters. If that figure is extrapolated to the entire universe of signatures, a total of 15,965 signatures may be implicated, bringing Rogers below the 15,000 signature threshold.
“The new indications of apparent fraud are deeply concerning and demand immediate action,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes. “Given that Michigan voters have now submitted declarations stating they did not sign the petitions, the Bureau of Elections and Board of Canvassers must uphold their responsibility to protect the integrity of Michigan’s elections and conduct a full, thorough investigation. The Board of State Canvassers must conclusively determine that the Republican Senate candidates have each submitted 15,000 valid signatures before taking any vote to certify them to appear on the ballot.”
There is a well-documented history of significant fraudulent signatures on Republican nominating petitions in Michigan. In the 2022 election cycle, five gubernatorial candidates and three judicial candidates were not certified to appear on the ballot due to fraudulent signatures. The Michigan Democratic Party and the DSCC urge the Board to ensure that apparent fraud is fully investigated before any candidate is certified to appear on the ballot.
A copy of the supplemental letter and declarations from Michigan voters can be found here.
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