Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is proposing tighter rules on paid petitioners in Michigan, according to this article (and thank you to Jim Fulner for bringing this to BAN’s attention):
Here’s something that’s not mentioned in the article: the signature requirements are simply too damn high! If they were lower, professional petitioners might not be needed.
According to Ballotpedia, statewide petitions to get on a Primary ballot for a Major Party in Michigan require 15,000 signatures of registered voters, meaning probably at least 22,500 signatures need to be turned in to the state for verification.
This is reminiscent of the Republican Party primary for President in Virginia in 2012. There was a veritable slew of candidates:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Republican_Party_presidential_primaries
To get on the Virginia GOP Presidential Primary ballot, the requirement was 10,000 valid signatures of registered voters in the state, with at least 400 from each of the Commonwealth’s 11 congressional districts.
That requirement was so difficult that only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified for the 2012 Virginia GOP Presidential Primary. It was an embarrassment for the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Republican Party.
After that, petitioning requirements were cut in half to 5,000 valid signatures, and at least 200 from each congressional district. Fortunately, the petitioning requirement was reduced to that for Independent and Third Party candidates, as well.
Any reform in Michigan should include reduced petition signature requirements for all candidates for public office.
AZ’s buddy in Ukraine cancelling elections. Sounds like a tyrant to me.
Bill Redpath is 100% right on this one. Petitioning requirements are a constant climb for third party and independent candidates across the spectrum. They’re so bad that even some democrats and republicans face the same wrath. We must lower requirements so that people won’t have to resort to paid petitioners anymore. Most of the time, problems with the petition process are through the fault of the current political system. Although there are exceptions, this is the standard rule of thumb.
HOW MANY *FREE* ELECTIONS IN THE PARTS OF UKRAINE OCCUPIED BY PUTIN’S KILLERS/ENSLAVERS – MILITARY, SECRET POLICE, ETC. — ESP CRIMEA ???
Abolish ballot access censorship. Adopt an open ballot that is write-in only and voter verifiable with an encrypted secret ballot receipt. No fees, no petitions. No pre-election litigations over eligibility. Americans voters had an open ballot until the 1890s; we can have an even better ballot today.
The state ballot monopolies could still print uniform ballots but they would be content neutral – no candidate or party names. For the means of voter verification see Chaum Encrypted Secret Ballot Receipt.
I call this set of reforms the Liberty Ballot.
AZ believes canceling elections is a good thing! He’s such a walking contradiction it’s getting pathetic.
Ukraine is officially a dictatorship.
It’s also law in Ukraine if you dare question their government or war you can have your home and other possessions taken from you. Doesn’t sound free to me. Zelensky is a tyrant perhaps even worse than Putin. Let’s send another $500 billion to prop up a dictator. Who cares if the US is broke.
Bill Redpath/Richard Winger: where is the article on Ukraine cancelling elections? Clearly that fit this blog.
AZ supports this like his hero Biden
https://youtu.be/2DRiXepdx2w
The link in the article is from NPR and thus FAKE NEWS.
Would cancelling an election be considered a purge list?
The state election authorities are dense. If they allow fees to be used optionally in place of signatures, they will get the money that would otherwise go to paid petitioners.
Don’t these guys like free money??
Max is from that part of the world, he may be able to elaborate on the Ukraine more.
Tucker gets it.
https://www.infowars.com/posts/tucker-carlson-dares-to-ask-why-exactly-are-we-at-war-with-russia/
Babylon Bee story.
https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-boasts-how-well-he-has-handled-ukrainian-economy
Only major party candidates for governor require a petition. AG Nessel was elected statewide with no petition. Minor party candidates are nominated by convention.
If a modest number of supporters were required to appear in person, the supposed problem would not occur.
Nessel was AG hack nominee in mich donkeys fall state convention –
with rigged delegates system
Hi Ralph, thanks for the question.
I have very little if anything to add to what Tucker Carlson said in the link George provides above. Although he’s not from our part of the world, he’s been very perceptive about matters here and your government’s relation to them, and this is no exception. The simple fact currently is that Russian government is freely elected, and Ukrainian government is under siege for the past 9 years by an illegal coup bringing to power a corrupt junta of Nazis, Jewish Supremacists, and nonideoligical corrupt peddlers of graft and foreign money and weapons from NATO, EU and US. They held a potemkin village farce of an election to install the current actor/comedian president under the watch of armed fascists, and now plan to cancel elections altogether.
This is what happens when you hire scummy people to work on petition drives.
@Andy,
Why should some statewide candidates require 15,000 signatures and others zero?
@AZ,
Nessel probably wants to run for governor. With more regulations for circulators he will be able to price opponents out of the race.
NESSEL IS A FEM – ONE OF THE HYDRA 3 FEM TOP EXEC COMMIES IN THE MICH REGIME – GOV-SOS-AG
@AZ,
Benson wants to be governor too. They will have enough cash to pay for legit circulators.
Any idea where Willie Reed has gone?
Female leadership is a terrible mistake. Patriarchy is an essential element of wise governance.