State Rep. Ann Bollin today said a federal judge was wrong to disregard state law when he issued an order this morning lowering the signature threshold and extending the deadline for candidates required to submit petitions to appear on the August primary ballot.

Bollin pointed out that Eric Esshaki, the person interested in running for the 11th U.S. House District who sought the injunction, announced his candidacy in October 2019.

“The process and deadlines for collecting signatures to run for office are clearly laid out in state law and that should not be disregarded,” Bollin said. “A lot of people announced their candidacies last year and had more than enough time to collect the signatures they needed the right way. It’s wrong for a judge to unilaterally change the signature-collection process for this election at the request of a small handful of candidates who failed to make the adjustments necessary to collect and submit signatures in time.”

Bollin, who served as Brighton Township clerk for 16 years, also objected to U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg’s order requiring the Secretary of State to begin accepting electronic signatures.

“Electronic signatures have never been a part of our elections, and I have some serious concerns about them jeopardizing the integrity of the process – especially when the state is ordered to throw together rules for an email-based system within 72 hours,” Bollin said. “People deserve assurance that well-vetted measures are being taken to prevent fraud and keep our elections secure. This situation does not allow for that.”

###