Meridian Township clerk disqualified from 2024 ballot. Here's why
MERIDIAN TWP. — Meridian Township Clerk Deborah Guthrie filed for reelection but her name won't be on the August election ballot.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum said in a Monday letter to Guthrie that she didn't pay $175 in fees as part of her affidavit of identity, a necessary step to qualify for the ballot, and is disqualified as a named candidate on the ballot.
The township's deputy clerk/election administrator, Emily Gordon, confirmed in a Monday letter to Byrum that she had consulted with experts and officially disqualified Guthrie.
The State Journal left a message with Guthrie and Gordon on Wednesday.
Guthrie cannot appear by name on the August or November ballots but could run as a write-in candidate.
No one else has filed to run as a candidate, Byrum said on Wednesday. The filing deadline is 4 p.m. on April 23.
Guthrie signed in March an affidavit attesting that she was caught up on paying filing and election fees, which led to the disqualification, Byrum said. Paying the fee afterward does not change the faulty affidavit, she said.
Disqualification is not common. Most candidates clean up their fees before filing but it has happened locally and across the state.
Dierdre Waterman, who served two terms as Pontiac's mayor, was disqualified from the ballot in 2021. She was excluded after failing to file timely campaign finance reports and pay late fees, according to Pontiac and Oakland County election officials. She pursued a write-in campaign that fall and did not win reelection.
At least 10 elected officials across Michigan - including Mellissa Carone, whose election testimony was spoofed on Saturday Night Live - were disqualified in 2022 and booted from ballots because they did not pay outstanding fines or file missing campaign finance reports at the time they filed the affidavits necessary in order to run for office.
That same year, Chris Martin, who was attempting to run in a judicial election in the Greater Lansing area, was disqualified for a late filing issue.
Martin withdrew his candidacy completely and refiled as a new candidate minutes later - complete with a new application, a set of signatures to qualify and a newly signed affidavit of identity in the same election cycle. That second bid was rejected by election officials, despite Martin paying a $125 late filing fee. A legal appeal was also rejected by the Michigan Court of Appeals in September of that year.
The affidavit, which candidates must sign, indicates all reports, fines, fees and other necessary payments or paperwork are in order at the time the document was filed.
In a mid-March letter, Byrum told Guthrie and Gordon there was no remedy for the missing fee but that the decision would rest with Gordon, as the township's election official.
Guthrie was elected in 2020. She had worked for the township for as director of communication.
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Meridian Township Clerk Deborah Guthrie disqualified from 2024 ballot
