Michigan Primary-Ballot Signature Rule Altered Under Covid-19

Because Michiganders are under a stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the state can’t enforce its requirement that candidates for U.S. Congress obtain signatures from 1,000 registered voters to appear on the the Aug. 4 primary ballot, a federal court in the state said Monday.

Republican Eric Esshaki complained that he had more than 700 signatures when the lockdown was implemented, but he can no longer collect signatures in public. The state’s insistence on enforcing the signature rule, coupled with the stay-at-home order, violated his constitutional rights, he said.

Granting Esshaki’s request for a preliminary injunction, Judge Terrence ...