For Immediate Release
Contact:
Scotty Boman
scottyboman@hotmail.com
http://scottyboman.org
313-247-2052
June 28, 2013
Detroit, MI – Absentee ballots for Detroit’s Primary Election are over a week past due. Michigan election law (168.714) requires the ballots to be available a minimum of 45 days before the election.
Under the heading “2013 Official Municipal Candidate List,” the Detroit Department of Elections Webpage has a link that reads, “Download Load the list.” As of the afternoon of June 28th That link opens a PDF document that is blank except for the words, “Updated List Will Be Posted June 28th.”
Officials of the Detroit Department of Elections and a spokesperson at the Michigan Secretary of State office both indicated that this delay was the result of a court order, but the Secretary of State representative denied knowledge of the case number, judge’s name, or case title. Detroit Department of Elections officials had no additional information either. Representatives of the Wayne County Clerks office suggested means of finding the information, but did not acknowledge awareness of the case.
This is the second irregularity regarding the candidate listing to occur in the same week. On June 24th the list still contained the name of a Mayoral hopeful Mike Duggan, even though an appellate court had ordered the removal of his name a week prior. His name was removed by the Department of Elections within an hour of a press release on the matter being issued by City Clerk Candidate Scotty Boman.
Boman commented, “This is a perfect example of why I am running for City Clerk. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The correction this past Monday would probably, still, not have been made if I had not brought it to the public’s attention. Now the entire process is being held up by a phantom court case that nobody is willing to identify. Given that the Department of Elections or the City Clerk (who is in charge of it) is a party to the case, there can be little doubt that they know the information, they just wish to conceal it.” Boman indicated that he was pretty sure he knows what the case is about, but would not comment on it since this knowledge was based on here-say from confidential sources.
Boman went on to say, “If a situation like this arises on my watch, I will be sure to post the court order along with the acknowledgement of the delay. The public has a right to know, lest the process be hijacked by secret deals behind closed doors.”
