John Conyers Back on the Ballot!

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Thanks to U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Leitman John Conyers, the second longest serving member of the House of Representatives is back on the ballot for his Michigan seat.

This story began with a state law that restricts gathering of petition signatures to registered voters within the state of Michigan.  Under that law, 1400 of the 2000 signatures Conyers gathered to get on the ballot were ruled invalid by Clerk Kathy Garrett.

State officials defended the law as a means to hold “fraudulent petition circulators” accountable.  Just so we’re clear.  The people who signed the petition are registered voters in the state of Michigan.  That means because the people who gathered the signatures were not registered in the state, the signatures of valid Michigan voters were ruled invalid.

The problem is this law violates the first Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of political association.

The Judge accepted that argument, noting that the law was also not narrowly tailored.

Plaintiffs here have shown a substantial likelihood of success. The State’s interest in combatting election fraud is compelling, but the State may protect that interest through a less restrictive means.

Judge Leitman also concluded that the Conyers campaign’s failure to comply with the law was likely a good faith error.

In order to give the parties to the dispute a chance to appeal his ruling, Judge Leitman ordered a preliminary injunction.  His full ruling will be released at a later date.

Now Conyers will face off with primary challenger, Rev. Horace Scheffield in a primary scheduled for August 5.

Certainly, free and fair elections are not only in the state’s interest.  They are very much in the interest of every American citizen.

However, this law basically suggests that one must be a registered voter in Michigan to collect signatures on a petition. Even if it didn’t violate the first amendment, it makes about as much sense as saying you want to stop in person voter fraud by eliminating weekend voting.

Image: WDET

Adalia Woodbury

Former contributor.