After 49 Years In Congress, John Conyers May Not Make The Ballot

[TaftFan]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/05/02/after-50-years-in-congress-john-conyers-may-not-make-the-ballot.html

I guess Thad McCotter didn't scare the rest of the Michigan delegation with his failure two years ago.

[angelatc]

And of course nobody is talking about this, because there's far more important news getting bumped in General Politics, like Koch bashing, sex in public schools, and dogs getting shot.

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2014/05/02/john-conyers-congress-ballot-signatures-michigan/

Looks like the longest serving member in Congress has to run a write-in campaign because he screwed up his petition signatures, but that's not sexy enough to warrant much discussion. Personally, I think it's hysterical. You know he just has to be uber-pissed.

But on the other hand, for those of us serving in administrative functions - let this be a warning. It is not hard to imagine a rival campaign intentionally sabotaging a candidate by sending in unregistered signature gatherers.

[specsaregood]

awesome. I wonder what his primary opponent who challenged his signatures is like.

[angelatc]

awesome. I wonder what his primary opponent who challenged his signatures is like.

I'm assuming he'a a black Democrat also.

Read this. Somebody should be going to jail over this:


The two petition gatherers in question didn't appear in the state's voter-registration database when Mr. Conyers's petitions were first examined Monday, according to The Detroit News. By Tuesday, the two petitioners were in the database, with registrations dated in December, the newspaper reported.


Mr. Sheffield said Friday that his campaign wasn't planning on challenging Mr. Conyers's petitions until he learned, from a Detroit reporter, that two people who gathered signatures for the congressman registered to vote this Monday but had their registrations backdated to December.


This wasn't some low-level clerk. Somebody from the campaign is involved in this. And I didn't see it mentioned in any of the Detroit papers.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303948104579538342644814788

[specsaregood]

awesome. I wonder what his primary opponent who challenged his signatures is like.
http://www.betterwithsheffield.com/issues.html

[eduardo89]

Isn't Conyers the guy who helped Amash with his anti-NSA amendment that almost passed?

[angelatc]

Isn't Conyers the guy who helped Amash with his anti-NSA amendment that almost passed?

Yes, very good memory!

[Lucille]

http://reason.com/blog/2014/05/14/rep-conyers-wont-make-primary-ballot-man


Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) is going to have a tougher road to re-election than he thought. He failed to collect enough signatures (http://www.freep.com/article/20140513/NEWS05/305130116/John-Conyers-Cathy-Garrett-signatures) to appear on the August primary ballot. A majority of the signatures he turned in were invalidated.

[Ronin Truth]

With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, they definitely needed iron clad term limits in the CONstitution. Who knew?

[Pericles]

LMAO

[William Tell]

The Republican in the race seems good to me.
http://jeffgormanforuscongress.com/about-us.html

The district is rated D+34 by Cook. But this will be a unique election if Conyers does not make the ballot. Worth keeping on eye on anyway.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan%27s_13th_congressional_district

[angelatc]

The TV stations around are are sobbing, because he would have been the longest serving member of Congress once Rangel's term ends. Apparently it is unfair for him to leave like this, and not on his own terms.

I have not heard a WORD about the fact that the voter registrations were backdated.

[2young2vote]

http://www.betterwithsheffield.com/issues.html

"This historic bill will lower premium costs for businesses and families and it is estimated that it will allow over 32 new Americans who are presently uninsured become insured."

That number sounds about right, don't you think?

I'm not very good at punctuation myself, but does this entire page look horribly written to anyone else? Is this indicative of what he will be like while serving as a member of Congress? I'd assume so.

[angelatc]

"This historic bill will lower premium costs for businesses and families and it is estimated that it will allow over 32 new Americans who are presently uninsured become insured."

That number sounds about right, don't you think?

I'm not very good at punctuation myself, but does this entire page look horribly written to anyone else? Is this indicative of what he will be like while serving as a member of Congress? I'd assume so.

It's not just you. It's a horrible page.

[Lucille]

"... but some animals are more equal than others"
http://knappster.blogspot.com/2014/05/but-some-animals-are-more-equal-than.html#5IHdQGwLVPqpm8XY.99


September 7, 2012:


Michigan voters looking for a third-party option in November will have to look somewhere other than the Libertarian Party.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman in Detroit ruled Gary Johnson won't be on the ballot because of state law that prevents a candidate from losing in a primary for one party and running in the general election on another party's ticket.

May 5, 2014:


The U.S. Supreme Court denied the Libertarian Party of Ohio its chance to get a gubernatorial candidate on the primary ballot on the eve of Tuesday's election.

Ohio's elections chief disqualified that candidate, Charlie Earl, in March after his nominating petitions were challenged. Secretary of State Jon Husted agreed with a hearing officer who found that two Earl petitioners failed to properly disclose their employers.


May 23, 2014:



A federal judge in Michigan on Friday ordered Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to be placed back on the state's Democratic primary ballot.

...

Earlier on Friday, the Michigan secretary of State had denied an appeal from Conyers because he did not have the necessary 1,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Due to a Michigan state law that requires people gathering petition signatures to be registered in the state, more than 600 signatures for Conyers were tossed out because the people who helped collect them were not registered to vote in Michigan, the country clerk had said.

...

"The State’s interest in combatting election fraud is compelling, but the State may protect that interest through a less restrictive means."

[U.S. District Court Judge Matthew] Leitman also said the Conyers campaign's failure to comply with the law appeared to be a good faith mistake.

...

The 50-year incumbent will now face off against primary opponent Rev. Horace Sheffield III, who first challenged the petition signatures.


Because DEMOCRACY, see?


SMH

[liberalnurse]

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Leitman also said the Conyers campaign's failure to comply with the law appeared to be a good faith mistake

Gee, I hope when my failure to comply comes before the judge he realizes that it was just a good faith mistake.

Give me a freakin' break.

[angelatc]

I hope Bill Scheutte appeals this.


They are totally ignoring that the signature collectors in question attempted to back date their voter registration cards. This is more than a "good faith" mistake.