Lansing — A consultant for Republican candidate for governor Perry Johnson signed an affidavit Wednesday, contending Johnson's team added required disclaimers to thousands of petitions after people already signed them.
In the nine-page affidavit, which was obtained by The Detroit News, Johnson's campaign staff was accused of unlawful conduct and of running forms featuring about 10,000 petition signatures through a printer after the forms had been signed by voters in order to add an identification statement. That statement, generally mandated to be used on campaign materials, said the forms were paid for by the Johnson campaign.
The allegations came one day before the Board of State Canvassers was scheduled to meet in Lansing to determine which candidates for governor should qualify for the Aug. 4 primary ballot.
As things stood Wednesday, the Michigan Bureau of Elections had already recommended that Johnson, a wealthy businessman from Bloomfield Hills, be given a spot on the ballot. According to the bureau's initial review, he turned in 22,406 valid signatures, more than 7,000 above the required 15,000-signature threshold.
However, that review didn't touch on the new claims from the consultant who works with Johnson's campaign, and it's not clear how the canvassing board will respond to the accusation of petition sheets being run through a printer after they were signed.
The affidavit said it was clear which petitions had been run through a printer because the disclaimers...
WASHINGTON, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- This release is issued by King & Spalding: The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that New York Packaging II LLC, doing business as Redi-Bag USA,...