LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - An attorney representing a signature gatherer in a case involving an effort to squash the Secure MI Vote voter integrity initiative says that the possible disqualification of five GOP candidates for governor over petitions deemed fraudulent - even if unrelated to his case - is worthy of a bipartisan investigation.
Troy Cumings, chair of the Government Affairs Group of the law firm of Warner Norcross & Judd, told Legal Newsline that it was “unprecedented” to have so many petitions - tens of thousands of them - determined to be invalid.
“This is very concerning for the state of Michigan, and the Secretary of State, even though she is a liberal Democrat, must investigate,” Cumings said. “This could turn around some day and hit the Democrats.”
Troy Cumings
Tracy Wimmer, spokesperson for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, told Legal Newsline that a “referral has been made to the Attorney General. Now that this is an ongoing investigation we have no further comment.”
Amber McCann, spokesperson for Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, told Legal Newsline that the "department has received an official referral for investigation and our agents are reviewing the materials provided by the Michigan Department of State."
On Monday, the Michigan Bureau of Elections announced that it determined that thousands of petition signatures for five GOP candidates were fraudulent -- taking them below the 15,000 valid signatures needed to get on the Aug. 2 primary ballot.
Across 10 sets of nominating petitions, the Bureau estimates 68,000 invalid signatures.
Two of the Republicans, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig and businessman Perry Johnson, were considered to be leading the field of 10 candidates. The Bureau said that it found evidence of handwriting that appeared too consistent on the petition sheets, and found evidence of “round-tabling,” where signature gatherers take turns signing sheets to make signatures appear authentic.
The Michigan State Board of Canvassers, a four-member board of two Democrats and two Republicans, could make a final determination on the petitions at a scheduled meeting on Thursday, May 26. The Board’s decision can be challenged in court, and John Yob, spokesman for Perry Johnson, told the Wall Street Journal that the campaign “could pursue legal action if necessary.”
A spokesman for James Craig did not return a request for comment.
Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, Ron Weiser, characterized the move to disqualify the GOP candidates as purely political.
“Democrats claim to be champions of democracy but are actively angling behind the scenes to disqualify their opponents in an unprecedented way because they want to take away choice from Michigan voters after years of terrible policies,” he said in a statement.
In the case involving the voter integrity initiative, attorney Cumings said that two groups working against the initiative, Protect MI Vote and Groundgame Political Consulting, failed to report payments intended to steer signature gatherers away from Secure MI Vote.
“Section 43 of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act requires a ballot committee to report expenditures made by those working for it,” Cumings told Legal Newsline for an earlier story.
“Groundgame paid Dustin Wefel (Cumings’ client) and likely others to support its services to Protect MI Vote, including to refrain from obtaining signatures for the Secure MI Vote ballot committee. Yet neither Groundgame nor Protect MI Vote reported those payments. Section 43 of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act specifically prohibits a committee like Protect MI Vote from hiding its expenditures like this through a consultant.”
Earlier this month, a group working against Secure MI Vote was offering $500 and $1,000 bonuses for "turning in" circulators carrying "unapproved initiatives," as well as $12,500 to anyone who could report where Wefel was "turning in their issues."
"You can work with them or you can work with us, you just can't do both," states a May 17 Facebook post in the closed group Let The Voters Decide.