Canvassers deadlock on certifying Citizen Voting petition

The Board of State Canvassers rejected the initiative petition today from Americans for Citizen Voting Michigan that would amend the Constitution by requiring the purging of non-citizens from the voting rolls and new proof of identification requirements for all voters.

The board deadlocked 2-2 on whether the group had sufficient valid signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot.

The group collected 709,841 signatures. The board then pulled a sample of 1,000 signatures. To reach the threshold of 446,198 valid signatures, 629 in the sample had to be valid. Bureau of Elections staff last week found the group only had 612 valid signatures, finding rampant issues with duplicates, damaged petitions, errors and other problems.

Americans for Citizen Voting Michigan, in a response filed Friday, requested the rehabilitation of more than 100 signatures, countering the bureau’s analysis.

The board on Monday agreed to rehabilitate 14 signatures, bringing them to 626 – still short. From there the board deadlocked on further signatures, particularly on affidavits submitted by persons whose signatures the bureau threw out, asserting the signature did not match the voter’s signature in the Qualified Voter File.

Paul Jacob, chair of Americans for Citizens Voting, said the group will quickly file suit in court to overturn the board’s decision.

“People deserve a vote on this issue, and they’re going to get one,” he told reporters after the meeting. “We are going to go to every court we’ve got to go to. We’ll go to the Supreme Court of Michigan. We’ll go to the U.S. Supreme Court, wherever we have to go because this is a travesty of justice.”

The courts will have to rule quickly. The Nov. 3 ballot must be certified by Sept. 4.