by Scott McClallen
More than 35,000 signatures are on the line for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s reelection campaign as a result of a legal battle over the size of union logos printed on ballot petitions.
In February 2022, the Board of State Canvassers deadlocked on party lines and failed to approve a ballot initiative petition for the group Raise the Wage because Republicans said the typeface union logo printed was too small.
This appears to be a new disagreement, as court documents say the entity has previously approved documents with the small union logo.
Raise the Wage Michigan sued the Board of State Canvassers, saying its decision caused “chaos and uncertainty” about some petition validity.
The Detroit News first reported the story.
Gubernatorial candidates supported by major parties must garner 15,000 valid signatures by April 19 to get on the primary ballot.
Whitmer’s lawyer, Chris Trebilcock said the governor’s campaign had collected more than 35,000 signatures that the February decision would likely disqualify.
Trebilcock argued the court should deem the petitions valid because “[n]othing in the Michigan Election Law requires labels that appear on petitions to be printed in eight-point type, or requires the text within labels to be printed in eight-point type.”
He added: “Additionally, the Board’s new ‘rule’ will create substantial disruption to the electoral process, as dozens of candidates and several ballot question committees have already been circulating and gathering signatures on hundreds of thousands of petition sheets that include the type of labels the Board has now rejected – many of which the Board or Bureau of Elections had already approved as to form,” Trebilcock wrote.
Trebilcock said the Michigan Bureau of Elections pre-approved the petition in June 2021 and shouldn’t change the rules mid-collection.
“To allow the board to pull the rug out from these candidates at the eleventh hour would result in inequities to both the candidates and the voting public who would be deprived of their choice of candidate,” Trebilcock wrote.
The union logos are frequently included in union printing shops.
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.
Photo “Gretchen Whitmer” by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
