Republicans Accused of Forging Ballot Signatures in Critical Swing State

Michigan Democrats asked state election officials to investigate Republican Senate candidates on Friday, accusing the Republicans of fraud and potential forgery of ballot signatures.

Michigan is shaping up to be a critical battleground state in the 2024 presidential election. The state has swung between Republican and Democratic candidates in past elections, making it a key target for both parties. Following the retirement of Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow, Republicans and Democrats have been vying for her Senate seat that is expected to be highly competitive with Representative Elissa Slotkin as the Democratic frontrunner for the Senate nomination and former Representative Mike Rogers as the Republican frontrunner with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

On Friday, attorneys for the Michigan Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) submitted a letter to the Board of State Canvassers asking election officials to investigate whether nominating petitions submitted by Republican U.S. Senate candidates Rogers, Justin Amash and businessman Sandy Pensler as well as former candidate Peter Meijer had “patterns that indicate the presence of potential forgery and other fraudulent signature gathering tactics.”

“The apparent fraud uncovered demands an immediate investigation” and that the state Bureau of Elections and the canvassing board “should uphold their responsibility to protect the integrity of Michigan’s elections and conduct a full, thorough examination,” Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes said in a statement.

Newsweek has reached out to Rogers, Amash, Pensler, Meijer and the Michigan Democratic Party via email for comment.

The letter claims that further investigation is needed as the candidates’ submissions appear to have potential fraudulent signatures, with petition sheets that appeared to be filled out by only one person, voters’ names appearing across multiple petitions in different handwriting and other evidence of potential fraud.

“The Board should not certify any of these candidates for the ballot until it has conclusively determined that they have submitted 15,000 valid signatures from actual Michigan voters, as required by law,” the letter reads.

However, the Republicans have dismissed the claims as Rogers’ campaign spokesman, Chris Gustafson, condemned the letter calling it an “antidemocratic stunt” pulled by allies of Slotkin and pointed towards the “same failed unlawful efforts to subvert democracy that they tried to use against President Trump.”

In addition, Pensler’s adviser, Stu Sandler, also criticized the letter, stating, “Democrats can’t beat Republicans at the ballot box so it looks like they’re trying to eliminate Republicans from the ballot.”

“Sandy Pensler turned in over 26,000 signatures. He clearly qualifies for the ballot which is why no timely challenge was filed,” Sandler said in a statement.

However, if an investigation is conducted and if it is found any of the candidates were found to have less than 15,000 valid signatures, the candidates could be taken off the August 6 primary ballot for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate seat.

While the Democratic request to the Board of State Canvassers is not a formal challenge due to last month’s deadline for challenging petition signatures passed, the letter stated it’s the board’s duty to canvass all petitions submitted.

“If, after that investigation, the Board determines that any of the candidates have not submitted the required number of valid petition signatures, those candidates should not be certified for the ballot,” the letter said.

Meanwhile, Slotkin is also facing a challenge to her signatures. According to The Washington Post on Friday her campaign has dismissed the challenge as “unserious,” stating that the number of contested signatures is insufficient to remove her from the ballot.

Newsweek has also reached out to Slotkin via email for comment.

This is not the first time Republican candidates have been at the forefront of allegations of fraud or potential forgery. In 2022, five Republican candidates for Michigan governor were barred from running in that year’s election after failing to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the primary. The Michigan Elections Bureau reviewed the signatures and identified thousands of invalid and fraudulent signatures among the candidates.

The Republicans denied any claims and Michigan officials didn’t accuse them of knowingly submitting fraudulent signatures. However, the state charged three individuals behind those petition circulation firms last year in connection with the fraudulent signatures as they were working to get multiple Republican candidates on the ballot.