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.