On June 24, the Michigan State Court of Appeals issued a 4-page opinion in Moore v Genesee County, 355291. The case concerned an election for Goodrich Village Council. In 2020, a candidate forgot to check the box on her candidacy paperwork that says she is qualified for the position and that she is a U.S. citizen. The trial court said it was not a serious error and put her on the ballot. But the State Appeals Court ruled that was an error, and that she should have been left off the ballot.
The candidate also forgot to put her zip code, but the Appeals Court said a zip code is not mandatory on the form.
The candidate, Sherry Ann Moore, won her election in November 2020, and no one on either side of the lawsuit argued that she should be unseated. So the state appeals court decision has no impact, except to settle the issue for future Michigan elections. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/06/25/sherry-moore-goodrich-city-council-election-ballot/5346816001/
AP — Court: Winning candidate should have been barred from Goodrich ballot
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MI COA — NONPARTISAN – SOME QUALITY TO OPINS
Should the candidate filing form have all mandatory parts in red ink and bold letters? Is is the form designed to trip up “amateur” candidates?
Exact forms in each election law —
candidates / issues.
She made enough errors that she should have been kicked off. It wasn’t one oversight. Don’t schools teach students anymore how to double check their work? Duh!
Oh bullshit. A couple of check marks and a zip code is easy to miss. Anal stupidity and protectionism for the establishment.
Yeah, sounds like a way for the candidates with extra staff to triple check everything, like to make sure that they have less competition.
Ballot access – now a W-A-R event.
Amateurs = casualties.
Are they allowed to shoot back?
Given that we don’t require candidates to provide positive proof that they are US citizens, “fogeting” to check the box, and signing under penalty of perjury doesn’t seem like a trivial oversight.
A photocopy of the form would help identify if the boxes were easy to miss. I have seen forms where they are.