GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Five candidates for the governor's race in Michigan didn't get enough valid signatures to qualify to be on the ballot.
Grand Rapids' City Clerk Joel Hondorp has a feeling he might know where the problem lies.
“It used to be a grassroots endeavor,” Hondorp said.
Gubernatorial candidacy no longer is. Hondorp says campaigns can pay people to collect signatures on their behalf.
"There’s become a nice business of collecting signatures,” Hondorp said.
Years ago, each signature was worth a dollar or two. During the pandemic, Hondorp says the price went up between five to seven dollars.
“Now we’re hearing it’s about $20 for a signature,” Hondorp said.
Hondorp also says a dead giveaway was the multiple different-colored pens used for some of the signatures.
"Some of the examples had like three or four different colored pens on a petition sheet. You wouldn’t have three different-colored pens if you were on the street collecting signatures. You’d have one pen,” Hondorp said.
Hondorp adds catching these types of things is why voters should be reassured they can trust the process.
"We check. We do all these checks,” Hondorp said.
Hondorp just went through the process for Grand Rapids City Elections, on a much smaller scale.
