LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Two years on and it seems like déjà vu is the dish of the day in Michigan politics. Remember those pesky invalid signatures that tripped up Republican gubernatorial campaigns back in 2022?

Well, the Democrats are threatening to throw a wrench into the works of the state’s current political landscape with accusations that Michigan Republican senatorial candidates are caught up in the same kind of forgery and fraud.

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But that’s not all. Democrats are also finding themselves caught up in the petition signature game too with former state Sen. Adam Hollier taken out of contention after found to be 137 signatures short of the needed 1,000 to get a spot on the primary ballot.

Democratic candidate Hollier kicked off primary ballot, not enough valid petition signatures.

Hollier, backed by Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, has been gunning for a primary challenge against Democratic U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar for the 13th Congressional District seat. But the Wayne County Clerk’s office found instances of duplicate signatures or those who were not registered to vote.

Democratic Party accuses Republican senate candidates of signature issues.

Then, we also have several Michigan Republican senatorial candidates who are accused of signature shenanigans as well.

On the senate side of things, we have Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes who is pointing fingers across the aisle with what she says is evidence of signature shenanigans by Republican U.S. Senate candidates. The party is part of group of Democrats who are asking for an immediate investigation albeit what appears to be too late in the game as the deadline to challenge candidates was April 30th.

Who is trying to challenge the Republican senatorial candidates?

In a 29-page letter to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers dated May 17th from the law office of Elias Law Group, a “mission driven firm committed to helping Democrats win,” they point the finger at Republican senatorial candidates Mike Rogers, Sandy Pensler, Justin Amash and Peter Meijer (who has dropped out of the race) concerning “potential fraud” in their nominating petitions.

The letter is written on behalf of Michigan voter Emily Judd, the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP), and DSCC aka Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

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The request asserts that the candidates’ submissions appear to be “infected” with potentially fraudulent signatures and highlights several concerns: instances where petition sheets appear to be filled out by a single individual, the same voters’ names appearing across multiple petitions in different handwriting, and inconsistencies in the handwriting of petition circulators.

Democrats submit “evidence” in their letter challenging Republicans.

These issues are presented as evidence that the petitions require further scrutiny and the letter asserts, “The Board should not certify any of these candidates for the ballot until it has conclusively determined that they have submitted 15,000 valid signatures from actual Michigan voters, as required by law.”

They conclude their letter by saying, “If, after that investigation, the Board determines that any of the candidates have not submitted the required number of valid petition signatures, they should not be certified for the ballot.”

Candidates push back against accusations.

Stu Sandler, a spokesman for Sandy Pensler said about the issue, “Democrats can’t beat Republicans at the ballot box so it looks like they are trying to eliminate Republicans from the ballot. He clearly qualifies for the ballot which is why no timely challenge was filed.”

A spokesperson for the Mike Rogers campaign accused the Democrats of engaging in an “antidemocratic stunt” and employing the “same failed unlawful efforts to subvert democracy that they previously used against President Trump.”

The author of the letter, Christopher Trebilcock, an attorney with Clark Hill PLC, also went after Democrat senatorial candidate Hill Harper’s campaign on behalf of U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) last week. In that letter, Trebilcock noted a challenge filed against Slotkin by Harper saying it was “unserious” and didn’t follow the Board of State Canvassers’ procedures for signature sampling.

A list of challenges.

For a full list of all of the challenges against this year’s political candidates, click here. The Republican senatorial candidates accused of fraud are not on the list since the Democrats who are challenging them didn’t make the April deadline.

There are 30 candidates on the list who are being challenged, politicians who are running to be judges and representatives plus Slotkin who is running for the senate.

The challenges will be in front of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on May 31st when they meet next.