Democratic-linked group challenges Cornel West’s Michigan ballot petitions

Lansing — An organization tied to Democrats has filed an objection saying that petitions filed by independent presidential candidate Cornel West to get on the November ballot in Michigan are “riddled with forged signatures.”

In June, the campaign of West, a veteran liberal activist, academic and author, said it had collected more than double the 12,000 valid signatures from Michigan voters needed to get on the ballot for the Nov. 5 general election in the pivotal state.

However, a complaint filed with the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on Thursday by the national group Clear Choice Action said West’s petitions provided evidence of possibly “several thousand forged signatures.”

“The West petitions and the sample drawn from them are full of forged signatures,” the complaint said.

The complaint was signed by Rosa Holliday of Bay City. Attorneys from the Southfield-based law firm Goodman Acker — Mark Brewer, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, and Rowan Conybeare — worked on the complaint for Clear Choice Action.

According to the complaint, West’s campaign claimed to have submitted 27,049 signatures and, as part of standard procedure, the Michigan Bureau of Elections analyzed a sample of 754 signatures to determine whether enough valid petitions had been submitted.

Of the sample, 334 signatures must be validated in order for the Bureau of Elections to recommend to the Board of State Canvassers that West be placed on the ballot.

However, according to the complaint, West’s petitions contained documents that appeared unusually “pristine,” “without any wear or tear,” and that showed signs of “round-tabling,” the strategy in which circulators pass petitions to each other in order to forge signatures.

“None of these patterns would exist in an honest attempt to collect signatures,” the complaint said.

Clear Choice Action’s complaint asks the Bureau of Elections to compare each of West’s signatures to the signature of the person in the state’s qualified voter file to determine whether they are forgeries.

“The board owes the voters of Michigan a swift and thorough investigation,” Holliday said in a statement. “What they will find is an organized effort by the West campaign to submit massive numbers of clearly fraudulent signatures.”

West’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

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In a June 20 press release, West’s campaign said his petition cleared the way for him to appear on the Michigan ballot.

“We are confident that the support we have received, particularly from communities who feel left out, will translate into substantial voter turnout,” West said in a statement at the time. “Our campaign is bringing the voices of the forgotten directly into the heart of American politics.”

In the race between the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, and the presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, a handful of third-party candidates are also expected to be on the ballot, including Robert F. Kennedy, who is running as the Natural Law Party’s candidate in Michigan.

West’s petitions will be considered by the Board of State Canvassers at its next meeting in August.

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