SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — The message from the Michigan Court of Appeals to Republicans fighting to stay on the August primary ballot in the race for governor seems to be, if you can’t prove you have 15,000 signatures, you will not be on the ballot.
Perry Johnson filed a complaint trying to stay the August 2 primary ballot. The court this morning denied his complaint.
WXYZ reached out to his campaign and stopped by his house for comment. No one answered the door.
The court this afternoon denied Michael Markey Junior’s campaign as well.
“We are taking it to the Supreme Court because I think the people deserve this. What they are doing is they are making the director, who is a non-elected official, they are giving him or her the power to change the direction of any election at any time,” said Markey.
The court quoted evidence provided by the Bureau of Elections. It found thousands of the signatures they and other hopefuls in the race for governor were fraudulent.
James Craig has filed in the Court of Claims, which has not yet ruled.
Donna Brandenburg tells me they have decided to take a different route and file before the Supreme Court. She says she believes she turned in signatures that were lost by the state.
“Today we are filing with the Supreme Court of Michigan because there was a gross and egregious violation of policy procedure from an unelected bureau making accusations without proof,” said Brandenburg.
WXYZ stopped by seven homes of people whose names were signed and flagged as likely fraudulent by elections officials.
At four homes people were not home or did not answer.
At one home there was a language barrier making it hard to understand with certainty whether she signed the signature or not.
At two homes, the names signed on a Perry Johnson Petition and a James Craig Petition belonged to relatives of residents. The residents said they moved out of state years ago.
“He moved to New York,” said Keith Bornstein of Huntington Woods.
Keith Bornstein says his son was not in Michigan to sign the petition.
Bornstein says his son’s signature on a ballot for Perry Johnson is evidence of fraud. A search of his name, Mark Bornstein on the public records site Nexis confirms he has been registered to vote in New York State since 2021 and is a Democrat.
“That wasn’t her. Couldn’t have been her. She hasn’t been in Michigan in five years,” said Raymond Owens of Hamtramck.
He says his daughter-in-law’s name is signed on a petition for James Craig, but Linda Daniels lives in Oklahoma. A search of her name on the public records site Nexis confirms, she used to, but no longer is listed as living at the address the petition says she resides at.
You can find a report detailing some of the suspicious signatureshere. If you see your name signed, we would like to know if you did indeed sign it. Please reach out to krussell@wxyz.com.
