Five of the ten Republican gubernatorial candidates in Michigan, including the top contender, may be removed from the ballot after a state board found their campaigns filed tens of thousands of fake signatures.
Michigan’s Bureau of Elections said in their report that staff identified “36 petition circulators who submitted fraudulent petition sheets consisting entirely of invalid signatures.” The bureau estimates that these circulators submitted “at least 68,000 invalid signatures” for governor, circuit judge and district judge.
Some petitions showed signs of “round-tabling,” a practice in which petition gatherers sign each other’s forms in succession to vary handwriting and make signatures appear authentic, according to The Hill.
Staff are working to refer incidents of apparent fraud to law enforcement for criminal investigation.
The bureau said it does not currently “have reason to believe that any specific candidates or campaigns were aware of the activities of fraudulent-petition circulators.”
According to the report, leading Republican candidate for governor former Detroit Police Chief James Craig turned in over 11,000 invalid signatures, including nearly 10,000 from “fraudulent petition circulators.” Craig submitted only 10,192 valid signatures.
Businessman Perry Johnson (R), another top contender turned in 13,800 valid signatures. 9,393 signatures were invalid, including 6,983 that were allegedly fraudulent.
Both top candidates fell well short of the 15,000 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.
Three other candidates failed to submit enough valid signatures to make the ballot— financial adviser Michael Markey, Michigan State Police Capt. Michael Brown, and entrepreneur Donna Brandenburg.
Brown formally withdrew from the race after the report.
“It appears that after my campaign’s signature gathering was complete, individuals independently contracted for a portion of our signature gathering and validation jumped onto other campaigns and went on a money grab,” Brown said in a statement Tuesday morning. “I cannot and will not be associated with this activity. … I will exit the race for Michigan’s Governor with my integrity and this principle intact,” he added.
Craig plans to remain in the race, telling a Detroit Fox affiliate: “I’m a fighter, always been a fighter. Michigan wants something different. I know, everyone else knows, I was the GOP candidate that would have upset the incumbent. I’m a threat to the Democrat party. I’m also a threat to my other Republican opponents.”
Johnson is also sticking around. He released a plan to reform the petition process and blamed Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
“The staff of the Democrat secretary of state does not have the right to unilaterally void every signature obtained by the alleged forgers who victimized five campaigns,” Johnson strategist John Yob said. “We strongly believe they are refusing to count thousands of signatures from legitimate voters who signed the petitions and look forward to winning this fight before the board, and if necessary, in the courts.”
The bureau recommended that the candidates be removed from the August primary ballot. The Board of Canvassers made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, will review the bureau’s findings on Thursday and will determine whether to disqualify the candidates.
This comes after many Republicans including some in the GOP gubernatorial field, spread unproven conspiracy theories about election fraud contributing to Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Michigan.
