(Image source from: Seymour Tribune)
Michigan's laws requiring independent candidates for attorney general to collect 30,000 valid elector signatures in a span of six months are unconstitutionally burdensome, a federal judge ruled Monday, ordering that candidate Christopher Graveline's name appear on the November ballot as long as his campaign gathered at least 5,000 signatures.
Graveline was sued in July after gathering around 14,000 signatures ahead of the filing deadline who quit his job as a federal prosecutor to run.
Victoria Roberts, the United States District Judge in Detroit granted his request for a preliminary command, ruling that Michigan laws "severely burden" the constitutional rights of Graveline and three of his would-be voters who joined the lawsuit.
She said the state's election laws "operate to freeze the political status quo, and effectively bar independent candidates from accessing the ballot."
Major and minor-party candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and lieutenant governor are nominated at party conventions in August and do not need to submit signatures.
Democrats over the weekend picked lawyer Dana Nessel for attorney general, while Republicans chose state House Speaker Tom Leonard. Attorney General Bill Schuette is term-limited and is the GOP nominee for governor.
Roberts said no independent candidate for statewide office has appeared on the ballot since the 30,000-signature requirement was instituted 30 years ago and she accepted the plaintiffs' contention that Michigan's requirement is among the most restrictive in the nation, surpassed by only five other states. But she limited her ruling to the case at hand.
"The Court makes no finding that Michigan's elections laws have no constitutional application whatsoever," she wrote. "Consideration of that may be left to another day."
Graveline will make the ballot, Under her decision, if the state Bureau of Elections determines he gathered at least 5,000 valid signatures, including at least 100 from voters in each of at least half of the state's 14 congressional districts.
According to the argument made by State attorneys, Graveline only made it roughly halfway through his petition circulation because he started late in June, 42 days before the deadline, instead of earlier in the year.
A spokesman for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, whose office includes the elections bureau, said the ruling was being reviewed.
The 45-year-old Graveline, until lately headed the ferocious crime unit at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit, prosecuting gang members and drug traffickers. Earlier, he was an Army officer who prosecuted soldiers for ill-treating detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
"It's these types of statutes that are very much akin to some of the gerrymandering efforts that lock-in and give political power solely to the two parties," Graveline said. "That's why I decided to challenge it and hopefully through this effort, we'll see a lowering of the signature requirement and we'll allow other independents to gain access to the ballot."
His lawsuit has led to criticism from Nessel, whose spokesperson earlier this month called it "offensive."
Leonard's campaign manager, Robbie Rankey, said that Leonard is focused on his campaign, and "this situation is between Mr. Graveline and the courts."
There is some concern among Democrats that Graveline's candidacy could hurt their bid to take the attorney general's office, which they last won 20 years ago.
Graveline said both major parties try to paint independents as "spoiler candidates," but it is not an "accurate representation of what I bring to the race." He said he will appeal to both Republicans and Democrats who believe their parties have gone too far to the right and left.
By Sowmya Sangam
