Meridian Township clerk disqualified from 2024 ballot

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from Clerk Guthrie.

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Meridian Township Clerk Deborah Guthrie will not be allowed to appear on the 2024 ballot.

Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum tells 6 News that Guthrie, in filing for re-election to the four-year term as township clerk, had filed an Affidavit of Identity that was “not accurate.”

Affidavits of Identity are filed by every person seeking an elective office in Michigan. The documents attest to compliance with the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, including having filed all necessary reports and paid any fees or fines. The affidavit also certifies the individual is a citizen of the United States and constitutionally qualified for the office sought.

Guthrie Byrum Communications 1Download

Each affidavit is signed under the threat of a felony perjury charge.

Guthrie tells 6 News that she misinterpreted a clause in the affidavit on paying fines.

“It’s been really hard,” she says. “It’s been demoralizing, to be honest.”

She says she was “looking forward” to seeking re-election and had already lined up endorsements for her campaign.

Despite being disqualified from the official ballot, Guthrie says she is “100%” prepared to run as a write-in candidate.

She says she was awaiting clarity from township attorneys as well as Byrum on whether she could run a write-in candidacy.

In a text message, Byrum tells 6 News her write-in candidacy could be possible.

“That has been my understanding based on BOE [Bureau of Elections] guidance,” she texted in response to whether Guthrie could run a write-in campaign.

Guthrie acknowledges if there is a Democratic candidate who files before the 4 p.m. April 23 deadline, it will be tough to win as a write-in candidate.

“If somebody files and runs as a Democratic candidate, it would be near impossible to win a write-in campaign,” Guthrie says.

She’ll make a final determination sometime after the April 23 filing deadline she says.

Documents provided by Byrum show Guthrie owed fees related to campaign finance reporting requirements to the tune of $175 as of Feb. 5, 2024. As of March 14, 2024, Guthrie’s campaign fines and fees were “not in compliance” with the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.

“It is my opinion, as well as the Bureau of Elections’ guidance, that this candidate should be disqualified as a result of the unpaid late filing fees and the false statement on the Affidavit of Identity,” Byrum wrote in a March 14, 2024 letter to Guthrie. “There is no remedy for this error.”

Guthrie Byrum Communications 2Download

On Monday, Meridian Township Deputy Clerk and Election Administrator Emily Gordon wrote to Byrum regarding the March 15 letter.

“After reviewing, and consistent with the guidance of the Bureau of Elections, your office, and the Township Attorney, I have officially disqualified candidate Guthrie as a candidate from the filed ballot,” Gordon wrote.

That letter triggered Byrum’s notification letter to Guthrie.

Guthrie, who was first elected to the office in November of 2020 after beating the incumbent clerk in the Democratic primary, also spent more than 8 years as Meridian Township’s Communication Director between 2011 and 2019, according to her LinkedIn page.

Ingham County records show that as of April 9th, no one else has declared their candidacy for the job. The filing deadline is April 23rd.

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