The Michigan Court of Appeals on Monday will review Detroit mayoral candidate Mike Duggan's appeal of a ruling earlier this week that could knock him off the ballot.
The Court of Appeals' decision to hear the matter comes following mayoral candidate Tom Barrow's push for the Michigan Supreme Court to hear the issue first, bypassing the appeals court. Barrow filed a request Thursday to have the high court take over the case, but it has not acted.
The court issued an order saying it would take written motions without oral arguments.
In a surprising ruling on Tuesday, Duggan, the former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, was booted from the Aug. 6 primary ballot by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Lita Popke, who found he violated city charter residency rules.
The case was brought by Barrow, who said the charter's language is clear and indicates Duggan, a front-runner in polls, violated its requirements.
The charter states that a candidate must be a resident and a registered voter in the city at least one full year before filing for office.
Duggan registered to vote April 16, 2012. He filed for office on April 2, less than a year after registering to vote.
The Duggan campaign insists the charter's language means a candidate must a be a resident and registered voter by the filing deadline, May 14, not the actual time a candidate files for office, pointing to various election cases that point to erring on the side of access to the ballot.
"I am the first candidate in history who has been removed from the ballot for filing too early," Duggan said at a Wednesday news conference.
The Detroit Election Commission agreed with Duggan's argument, voting 2-1 to last month to allow him on the ballot.
Barrow had hoped to take the appeal straight to the Supreme Court, saying "Detroiters need a quick and definitive resolution to this historic case."
