Lansing - An Ingham County Circuit Court judge on Friday allowed city council hopeful Kathy Pelleran to be placed on the August primary ballot.
Pelleran originally couldn’t be placed on the ballot because she turned in an outdated candidacy form, which she obtained from the city’s Web site.
Judge James Giddings ruled Pelleran’s name should be put on the ballot and gave her until 4 p.m. Tuesday to turn in a form that complies with the Michigan Campaign Finance Act.
Shortly after his decision, Pelleran submitted a new Affidavit of Identity form.
The outdated form doesn’t include a section asking if the candidate complied with campaign finance laws.
Pelleran applied for candidacy for the at-large council seat at the city clerk’s office May 13 and was called in later that day to fill out one additional document.
She wasn’t told of the error, however, until after the May 14 filing deadline.
“I’m delighted with the decision,” she said. “It reinforces the strength of our Constitution and democracy when legal remedies are there.”
The applications for all the candidates were sent from the city clerk’s office to Ingham County Clerk Mike Bryanton, who is in charge of placing candidates’ names on the ballot.
The other candidates are Robert L. Bennett, Jerry Heathcote, Amy Hodgin, Brian Jeffries and Vincent Villegas. The Aug. 6 primary will narrow the choices to two.
After reviewing the documents, Bryanton sent a letter to City Clerk Debbie Miner explaining that Pelleran’s form was not valid, and as a result he could not put her on the ballot.
Pelleran was notified, and she filed a complaint against Miner and Bryanton on May 22.
The complaint required the clerks to explain why a court order shouldn’t place Pelleran’s name on the ballot, but Miner was dropped from the case because she had no authority to put Pelleran on the ballot. Miner and Mayor David Hollister sent a letter to the court saying Pelleran should be placed on the ballot.
“It’s refreshing that public officials can admit their mistake,” Pelleran’s attorney John Pirich said of the letter.
Still, the judge’s decision did not come easily.
Judge Giddings wanted to know which clerk holds the responsibility of certifying the forms.
The answer wasn’t immediately clear, but Giddings eventually said the job and any argument over the validity of a form should go to the city clerk.
“Otherwise,” he said, “we have two people certifying.”
Because Miner’s letter said Pelleran should be on the ballot, Giddings was going to grant that request.
But the decision was not an official ruling: Giddings took a five-minute recess and spoke with the attorneys in private. When they returned, the judge clarified his position.
“I’m certainly not suggesting it’s an error on the part of the county clerk,” he said.
Giddings said he was concerned with clarity of the election law’s language, but asked Bryanton to put Pelleran on the ballot because the city offered the online form as valid.
“These days, to get the most up-to-date information, you go on the Internet,” Giddings said.
Nearly all the faces in the courtroom were smiling when the matter was finally resolved.
“I was never opposed to her being on the ballot as long as the judge put her on for the right reasons,” Bryanton said.
