On September 14, the Michigan Supreme Court refused any relief to candidates for Highland Park city council who were left off the ballot because they didn’t check a box on paperwork. The blank question asked if the candidate is running as a party member or as an independent candidate. Many candidates didn’t check the box because they assumed it only applies to partisan elections. Elections for city office in Highland Park are nonpartisan.
Here is the order in Davis v Highland Park City Clerk, 164564. The City Clerk had tried to intervene on behalf of the candidates. The vote was 5-2. As a result of the decision, there are fewer candidates on the ballot than there are vacancies to be filled by the election.
It seems in the last 1-2 years more candidates are being removed from the ballot for sloppy filing. Are they that much in a hurry?
A failure to check a box on an application form to run for city council went all the way to the state supreme court.
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God forbid the reviewing agency tells the guy he made an error and asks that he fixes it and resubmits.