He's off. He's off.
Now he's on.
A federal judge in Detroit ruled Friday that Rep. John Conyers Jr.'s name can appear on the ballot, the New York Times reported.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman did not rule on whether Michigan’s law requiring that people circulating petitions for signatures had to be properly registered to vote. However, he ordered that Conyer's name go on the ballot “because time is of the essence.”
The ruling by the federal judge came on the same day that the Michigan Secretary of State had concluded that Conyers' name should not appear on the ballot. Her decision upheld one by the Wayne County Clerk, who ruled that Conyers didn't have enough valid signatures because two of the persons who circulated petitions weren't registered voters as required by state law
In his ruling Friday, Judge Leitman said: “The court believes it is essential to issue this order now – prior to issuance of a supporting Opinion – in order to provide any party who may wish to appeal as much time as possible in which to do so and in order to maximize the time in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit may have to review any possible appeal."
“The Court will issue an Opinion explaining in greater detail its reasoning on some of the matters discussed below as soon as possible.”
The Times wrote that Conyers "narrowly escaped a political fiasco."
Bert Johnson, a state Senator who is running Mr. Conyers’s campaign, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Conyers was “pretty happy” with the outcome.
“We believe it’s a very big win for the voters,” state Sen. Bert Johnson, Conyer's campaign manager told the Times. “It puts one of the more ugly parts of the campaign process behind us.”
-- Allan Lengel
