FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Scotty Boman
scottyboman@hotmail.com
http://scottyboman.org
313-247-2052
August 5, 2013
State Bureau of Elections Affirms City Clerk Candidate Boman’s Complaint
Detroit, MI – On Monday there was an empty space under the “Vote Now” signs that marked the location of the Satellite City Clerk offices (BKA “early voting” sites). For years it has been standard practice for the City Clerk to put his or her name on City owned signs and printed materials, until now.
On Friday August 2nd, City Clerk candidate Scotty Boman filed a formal complaint against the incumbent City Clerk, Janice Winfrey, with the Michigan Department of State Bureau of Elections. At a city-wide training meeting of election inspectors on Saturday, they were instructed to remove Winfrey’s name from all of the “Vote Here” signs.
On Monday the banners at the Wayne County Community College locations were partially rolled back to conceal Winfrey’s name and the “Vote Here” signs no longer had her name at the bottom. Also, voters were no longer given “Instructions” with the words, “JANICE M. WINFREY CITY CLERK” at the bottom.
This was a consequence of the State Bureau of Elections’ agreement with the first two of Boman’s enumerated complaints:
1. The placement of “Janice Winfrey City Clerk” campaign signage on and near the Detroit City Clerk satellite offices which are being used as de facto polling stations. This being done while similar signage by opponents is prohibited.
2. Electioneering inside the polling stations, by Detroit Department of Elections staff in the form of “instructions” that promote one candidate (Janice Winfrey) for the office of City Clerk. These “instructions” are distributed with the ballots to each voter along with the ballot. Her name and office for which she is running are displayed in large heading size font. Opposing candidates were not permitted to distribute any literature in the vicinity of the “Satellite office.”
Other parts of the complaint were related to the treatment Boman received at the hands of Wayne County Community College Public Safety when he attempted to document the violations, and the fact that one of the offending officers continued to staff the satellite City Clerk’s office. The State Bureau of Elections took no action on these additional items.
###
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Scotty Boman. 4877 Balfour Road. Detroit, MI 48224.
