Recall petitions denied

Councilman Chris Sanders

January 10th update – By Carolyn Marnon – The recall petitions that were submitted to the Wayne County Clerk in December for the recall of city councilman Christopher Sanders were denied on January 10th.  According to Lisa Williams-Jackson, Director of Communications, Office of Wayne County Clerk, “The recall petitions were challenged on behalf of Christopher Sanders on the basis of the petition being defective, citing MCL 168.544c (1.) The petitioner responded to the challenge, however upon careful review and counsel, the Wayne County Clerk determined that she is without authority to issue a Call for Election due to a portion of the petition not complying with the latest document version that includes a provision for an out-of-state circulator to select.”
In short, when the petitions were emailed out from the county clerk’s office were an older form. Even though the petitioners had enough validated signatures, the petitions were not the most recent version. Ms. Williams-Jackson said this clerical error was an unfortunate mistake.
The recent version of the document includes a box for circulators of petitions to mark if they are out-of-state circulators.
Recall petition update (Original story)
By Carolyn Marnon – The petitions to recall City Councilman Christopher Sanders is still in process. Wayne City Clerk Matthew Miller has verified that the petitions all contained valid registered City of Wayne voters. There were 130 pages with 1,281 valid signatures. Clerk Miller returned the petitions to Wayne County and is awaiting word on the next steps in the process.
According to Lisa Williams-Jackson, Director of Communications for the Office of the Wayne County Clerk, “The office holder impacted by the recall petition has an opportunity to file challenges against the validity of the registration or the genuineness and validity of the signatures of the circulators and signers of the recall petition. Sanders has filed a challenge before the January 5, 2018 deadline.
“The County Clerk’s Office (Elections Division) must complete the final review of the recall petition no later than the 35th day after the petition filing date, which is January 10, 2018. If the County Clerk determines signatures are sufficient, then the County Clerk is required by law to call a special election. The County Clerk will call a special election to be conducted on the next regular election date that is:
1) At least 95 days after the date the recall petition was filed; and
2) Falls on the May or November regular election date, whichever occurs first.
If the petition is determined sufficient, then in this instance the special election will occur in May 2018. If the petition is insufficient, then the County Clerk must notify the petitioner and office holder of the insufficiency.”