Conyers.

DETROIT—A federal judge recently approved the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan’s request to put long-time U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D- Detroit) back on the August primary ballot.

Judge Matthew Leitman of  the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan made the ruling Friday, May 23. Leitman said the state’s law that requires petition circulators to be registered voters, violates the rights of people who want to take part in political speech.  

Conyers was removed from the ballot because two people collecting signatures on behalf of his campaign were not registered voters and the signatures they collected were disqualified. Michigan law requires petition signature collectors to be registered to vote. 

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson declared that Conyers had enough signatures to be placed on the primary ballot, if all the valid signatures collected by the non-registered petition signature collectors were counted. 

“Judge Leitman’s wise decision is not just a victory for Congressman Conyers, it’s a victory for all who wish to engage in political speech free of unnecessary government restrictions,” said ACLU Michigan Legal Director Michael J. Steinberg. “Circulating nominating petitions for candidates is core political speech and, in a democracy, the right to engage in free speech cannot be stripped from those who are not registered to vote. Courts across the country have consistently ruled that it is unconstitutional to forbid people who are not registered to vote from circulating petitions, and it is unclear why Michigan’s law was still being enforced.”