The decision came as the state faced a Friday deadline to fill out ballots for the Aug. 2 primary, which state election officials say is crucial for programming computers and the preparation of postal ballots.
In its review last week of nomination petitions, Michigan’s Office of Elections issued a scathing critique of the methods candidates’ campaigns use to collect signatures and the agents working for the candidates.
“The office is not aware of another election cycle in which so many voters have submitted such a large volume of fraudulent petition sheets consisting of invalid signatures,” the office said. She also clarified that she saw no evidence that the candidates had any knowledge of the fraud.
Election officials said they identified 36 people who submitted fraudulent petition sheets made up entirely of invalid signatures. On May 23, 19 candidates learned that they had not met the signature requirement to run for office, including three Republicans and one Democrat seeking House seats, and 10 nonpartisan candidates running for office. judicial posts.
More than half of the 21,305 signatures submitted by Mr Craig’s campaign were rejected, leaving him with 10,192 valid signatures, the office said in its report, which noted that little effort had been made to change the ‘Handwriting.
“In some cases, rather than trying to vary the signatures, the circulator would intentionally scribble in an illegible manner,” the office said of the petitions for Mr Craig. “In other cases, they circulated petition sheets between them, each filling in a line. »
The Elections Office rejected 9,393 of the 23,193 signatures submitted by Mr Johnson’s campaign, leaving him with 13,800 valid signatures. Some of the fraudulent signatures represented voters who died or left the state, the office said.
