| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
untanglingwebs
El Supremo
|
Enough signatures verified in effort to put recall of Flint Mayor Dayne Walling before voters
Published: Friday, August 20, 2010, 4:46 PM Updated: Friday, August 20, 2010, 4:54 PM
Kristin Longley | Flint Journal
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — An election to recall Flint Mayor Dayne Walling could be headed to the voters now that enough petition signatures have been verified, Genesee County Clerk Michael Carr said today.
Election officials have verified 8,267 registered voter signatures on the petition to recall Walling, Carr said. A total of 8,004 were needed to put the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot for voters to decide whether Walling should be removed from office.
Flint resident David Davenport, who also is a Flint school board member, filed the recall, saying Walling should be voted out for laying off police officers and firefighters.
Including Walling, the last three elected Flint mayors have faced recall attempts. Messages left for Walling this afternoon were not immediately returned.
Davenport said he's pleased the recall is moving forward, but said he is "very unhappy" that officials threw out more than 6,000 of the 14,341 petition signatures that were submitted.
"It looks like this is an attempt by the administration to make the citizens' voice smaller than what it is," he said. "It clearly tells me what kind of respect these politicians have for the citizens that are supposed to have democratic rights."
Davenport said he will be looking into why so many signatures were thrown out.
Carr said the county clerk's office checked petitions to be sure they were signed by circulators and that other procedures had been followed before submitting the signatures to the city clerk for further review.
Flint City Clerk Inez Brown said her office followed protocol under state election law for verifying signatures. Her office primarily checks to make sure the signatures are from registered voters and that the signatures match those on voter registration forms, she said.
Carr said the verification means the recall is headed to the ballot unless Walling successfully sues in court to prevent the election from happening.
Journal staff writer Ron Fonger contributed to this report.
Sponsored Links |
|
|
Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:06 pm |
|
|
andi03
F L I N T O I D
|
| ***blink, blink......crickets chirping***** |
|
|
|
Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:16 pm |
|
|
morebsfromwalling
F L I N T O I D
|
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/08/flint_mayor_dayne_walling_plan.html
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling says he plans to challenge recall attempt
Election officials said Friday that they verified 8,267 signatures on the petition to put a recall election of Flint Mayor Dayne Walling on the Nov. 2 ballot. A total of 8,004 were needed.
Now, Walling said he plans on filing "a number of challenges" in court and with election officials - and even plans on using a handwriting expert - in an attempt to disqualify more signatures and prevent the recall election from moving forward.
Meanwhile, recall organizer David Davenport said he may file a challenge of his own.
He said he's "very unhappy" that 6,337 signatures of the 14,341 he submitted were thrown out after a review by the county and city clerks' offices. He said he'll be looking into why so many were disqualified.
"It looks like this is an attempt by the administration to make the citizens' voice smaller than what it is," Davenport said. "It clearly tells me what kind of respect these politicians have for the citizens that are supposed to have democratic rights."
Davenport, who also is a Flint school board member, filed the recall language against Walling, saying he should be voted out for laying off police officers and firefighters.
The last three elected Flint mayors, including Walling, have faced recall attempts.
Walling said he did an independent review of the signatures and plans on filing challenges against another 1,000 or more for various reasons. He has eight days from Friday to file a challenge, he said.
"There are potentially residential addresses listed that may not exist," he said. "There are deeper problems that a handwriting expert will be reviewing."
Genesee County Clerk Michael Carr said the county clerk's office checked petitions to be sure they were signed by circulators and that other procedures had been followed before submitting the signatures to the city clerk for further review.
Flint City Clerk Inez Brown said her office followed protocol under state election law for verifying signatures. Her office primarily checks to make sure the signatures are from registered voters and that the signatures match those on voter registration forms, she said.
Carr said the verification means the recall is headed to the ballot unless Walling successfully sues in court to prevent the election from happening.
Walling said he plans on fighting against the individuals who are "disgruntled at decisions that I've made in the best interests of the community."
Davenport said he's not giving up on the more than 6,000 signatures that have been disqualified.
"I will not accept that and the citizens should not accept that," he said. "I'm not going to stop fighting until the final word."
|
|
|
|
Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:46 pm |
|
|
DELETED
Guest
|
|
|
Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:49 pm |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
