{"id":2252166,"date":"2024-05-24T13:23:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T17:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-democrats-push-for-investigation-to-disqualify-mike-rogers-from-ballot\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T13:27:06","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T17:27:06","slug":"michigan-democrats-push-for-investigation-to-disqualify-mike-rogers-from-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-democrats-push-for-investigation-to-disqualify-mike-rogers-from-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Democrats urge a probe to disqualify Mike Rogers from the ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmichigan-democrats-push-for-investigation-to-disqualify-mike-rogers-from-ballot%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2252166&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Michigan Democrats are calling\u200c for an investigation into Republican\u200b Senate \u2062candidates&#8217; petition signatures, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-not-just-arizona-push-to-review-2020-ballots-spreads\/\" title=\"It's Not Just Arizona: Push to Review 2020 Ballots Spreads\">alleging fraud<\/a>\u2062 and forgery. They claim that disqualifications of State candidates in \u200dthe past strengthen their case. The Democratic Party and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have \u2064sent a follow-up letter to \u200bthe\u2062 Michigan Board detailing instances of alleged fraud\u200d by Senate GOP candidate Mike Rogers.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Michigan<\/a> Democrats are reiterating their calls for an investigation into <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republicans\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Republican<\/a> Senate candidates\u2019 petition signatures after claiming evidence of fraud and potential forgery that has similarly disqualified several Great Lakes State candidates in the past.<\/p>\n<p>Counsel for the Michigan <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democratic-party\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democratic Party<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dscc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee<\/a> sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dscc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2024-05-23-MI-Senate-Petitions-Follow-Up-Letter-Exhibits.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>second letter<\/a> to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers on Thursday detailing other instances of alleged fraud on behalf of <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Senate<\/a> GOP candidate and former Rep. Mike Rogers. The party argues that the number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-election-chaos-gop-frontrunner-4-others-are-barred-from-ballot-after-board-split\/\" title=\"Michigan Election Chaos: GOP Frontrunner, 4 Others Are Barred From Ballot After Board Split\">alleged fraudulent signatures<\/a>, once removed from the petition, would bring Rogers below the required 15,000 signatures to be on the <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>2024<\/a> ballot.<\/p>\n<p>In the letter sent by the Elias Law Group, a Democratic-aligned election law firm founded by Marc Elias, the organizations claim potential fraud that could affect nearly 16,000 of Rogers\u2019s signatures. It follows an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dscc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/2024-05-17_MI_Senate_Petitions_Letter___Exhibits.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>earlier request<\/a> from the parties last week to investigate Rogers, as well as the petitions of current Senate candidates Sandy Pensler and Justin Amash.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats also want an investigation into former<strong> <\/strong>Rep. Peter Meijer despite the fact that he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/2981808\/peter-meijer-drops-primary-bid-michigan-senate-seat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>dropped his Senate bid<\/a> on April 26 and left Rogers as the front-runner for the Republican primary. Rogers is backed by former President Donald Trump and the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u200b\u200b\u201dSince we submitted our May 17 letter, we have obtained declarations from six voters who affirmed that, although their names, information, and purported signatures appear on petition sheets for Mr. Rogers, they did not fill out or sign those petition sheets,\u201d co-counsel for the parties wrote. <\/p>\n<p>The Democrats contend that a sample of Rogers\u2019s petition sheets shows 23% of people were not registered to vote in Michigan and, therefore, were not qualified to sign, arguing that this could render as many as 6,500 of the nearly 30,000 signatures Rogers submitted invalid. The parties also argue that at least 18 circulators for Rogers, who submitted nearly 12,300 signatures in total for Rogers\u2019s nomination, may have committed fraud, as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe new indications of apparent fraud are deeply concerning and demand immediate action,\u201d Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said in a Friday statement. \u201cGiven that Michigan voters have now submitted declarations stating they did not sign the petitions, the Bureau of Elections and Board of Canvassers must uphold their responsibility to protect the integrity of Michigan\u2019s elections and conduct a full, thorough investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Board of State Canvassers must conclusively determine that the Republican Senate candidates have each submitted 15,000 valid signatures before taking any vote to certify them to appear on the ballot,\u201d Barnes said.<\/p>\n<p>One of the parties\u2019 examples of evidence is a complaint from Mary Alexander, who also confirmed that her brother, DeWayne Washington, could not have signed the same petition sheet that she did because he has been dead since 2022, according to her affidavit. <\/p>\n<p>Another example of evidence is that signatures submitted for the Rogers petition appear differently than they do on the sheet for a different candidate, with the groups alleging inconsistent handwriting, misspellings, and address errors as cause for potential fraud.<\/p>\n<p>The groups also allege that \u201csuspicious patterns\u201d point to fraud, such as Rogers circulator Dennis Rodzik collecting 84 signatures from 10 different counties in Michigan all on one day, Oct. 14, 2023.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven assuming that 23% of the individuals who signed these circulators\u2019 pages are among those not registered to vote, that leaves approximately 9,465 signatures implicated by the indications of potential fraud discussed in this letter and our May 17 letter,\u201d the organizations\u2019 counsel wrote. \u201cCombined with the approximately 6,500 signers we anticipate the Board will find to be unregistered, 15,965 signatures on Mr. Rogers\u2019 petition may be implicated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The May 17 letter detailed two complaints challenging judicial candidates Lisa Neilson and Matthew Ackerman for alleged fraudulent signatures. According to the complaints, six circulators named in the Neilson complaint and 20 circulators named in the Ackerman complaint also circulated petitions for at least one of the four GOP Senate candidates. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the indications of potential fraud revealed by our initial review, we request that the Board immediately conduct a thorough investigation of the nominating petitions submitted by Mr. Rogers, Mr. Pensler, Mr. Amash, and Mr. Meijer for suspected fraud,\u201d the Democratic organizations\u2019 counsel wrote last week.<\/p>\n<p>Rogers\u2019s campaign blasted the Democrats\u2019 latest letter as a political stunt in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2024\/05\/24\/dems-want-probe-of-rogers-petitions-citing-fraud-unregistered-voters\/73830160007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>statement<\/a> to the <em>Detroit News, <\/em>expressing their belief that the request for an investigation would be dismissed quickly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElissa Slotkin is so terrified to face Mike Rogers in November that she enlisted D.C. liberal elitist lawyer Marc Elias to release this meritless letter three weeks after the challenge deadline in an attempt to subvert democracy, silence Michigan voters, and distract from her failed record on the cost of gas, groceries and securing the border,\u201d Rogers spokesman Chris Gustafson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are confident this letter will be dismissed,\u201d Gustafson added. \u201cMichiganders can rest assured we will respond outlining the baseless lies within this political stunt that were willfully written in full by the <em>Detroit News.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michigan has a history of candidates being taken off the ballot for signature fraud and related problems. In 2022, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig was a leading candidate for governor before fraudulent signatures <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/2022-midterm-elections-gretchen-whitmer-michigan-detroit-government-and-politics-e053d4327ded8bc466b5832ca6743670\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>threw his campaign off course<\/a>. Craig was also a leading candidate this year for Senate, but he <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/michigan-senate-republican-detroit-police-chief-ec5c3f5516472b78599a77c4fc95ad81\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>suspended his 2024 campaign<\/a> in what he called a \u201cbusiness decision.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In 2012, former Michigan Republican Rep. Thaddeus McCotter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clickondetroit.com\/news\/2012\/10\/11\/former-us-rep-thaddeus-mccotter-testifies-in-campaign-signature-snafu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>testified in court<\/a> after several of his high-ranking staffers were charged with conspiracy and other crimes due to submitting false petitions to qualify McCotter for the Republican primary that year. McCotter was not charged in the case and did not qualify for the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not an investigation into Rogers and the other Senate GOP candidates takes place remains to be seen. The DSCC and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-losing-first-in-nation-caucus-for-being-too-white-iowa-democrats-tuesday-isnt-super\/\" title=\"After Losing First-In-Nation Caucus For Being \u2018Too White,\u2019 Iowa Democrats\u2019 Tuesday Isn\u2019t Super\">state party submitted<\/a> their request outside of the official window for challenges in Michigan, according to the <em>Detroit News.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>While Rogers needs to rally enough voters to defeat Pensler, a self-funded businessman, in the primary, Democrats have mostly rallied around Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). Slotkin is Michigan\u2019s leading Democratic primary candidate for the Senate, a seat that could determine which party controls the chamber after the 2024 election.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Michigan Senate race is ranked \u201clean Democratic\u201d by the <em>Cook Political Report, <\/em>with the political race tracker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/senate\/race\/306086?check_logged_in=1#race-id-sen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>noting<\/a> that Slotkin\u2019s history of winning her swing seat over three elections proves her ability to appeal to independent voters.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan itself is one of several key battleground states that could determine whether Trump defeats President Joe Biden in November. A Bloomberg\/Morning Consult <a href=\"http:\/\/pro-assets.morningconsult.com\/wp-uploads\/2024\/05\/Bloomberg-Election-Tracking-Wave-8-Toplines-Crosstabs.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>poll<\/a> released this week found that across seven battleground states, including Michigan, Trump leads Biden, 48% to 44%.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> reached out to Rogers\u2019s campaign, the Michigan Department of State, and the Board of State Canvassers for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michigan Democrats are pressing for an inquiry into Republican Senate candidates&#8217; petition signatures, citing fraud and potential forgery. Past disqualifications in the state strengthen their plea. The Michigan Democratic Party and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee&#8217;s counsel have sent a follow-up letter to the Michigan Board in this regard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2648,"featured_media":2252167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24138665695580.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2252166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/AP24138665695580.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2648"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2252166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2252167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2252166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2252166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2252166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}