mck~uav.,kn 30. 1975-THE SOUTH LYON HERALD—
Clerks Try to Shorten ‘Bedsheet’ Ballot
Communist Party Challenges Elimination from Ballot
s
It’s called a “beSheet”
ballot because ci its unwieldly
size. with ii parties in
Michigan filing to run in the
November electiOn, voters
may be faced with a paper
tflheet this fall.
‘A lot ci voters will be
turned offby long, long lines.”
predicts
dance
Sass,
Northyllie Township Clerk. In
addition, costs of handling
and counting the over’siztd
paper ballots would be
“astronomical” she says.
To prevent the ime of the
bedsheet. Mrs. Sass and
clerks from other Wayne
County communities are
challenging the Communist
Party’s petitloit to appear on
the ballot. The Board of
Canvassers is expected to nile
on the challenge Thzrsday.
Mrs. San says the
Communists were selected for
challenge, not for any
Ideological reasons, but
simply because they filed the
fewest signatures and were
this easiest to check.
Mrs. Sass was joined in the
challenge by Michael W.
Based on prev1o~aprimary
cast then. A votef who casts
Ins ballot to qualify a minor election turnouts, about 4,ouo
party such as the Corn- to e,o~qualifying votes will
munists, caimot also vote be required for each mlnoi~
in the primary election ci the party In August It Is this
Republicans or Democrats. requirement that leads
All other partS select their Joseph Ellis, Liv’higstOn
candidates at conventions, C~zntyclerk, to believe that
rather than through - the there Is little threat of the
primaries.
betheet ballot appearing in
‘
\
4
names.
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The third time the petitions
were inspectet it was to
compare signatures against
voter registration records.
Mrs.
Sass
checked
involved.
She
said
that
the
those involved in
the
challenge had control of the
records and that som’
manipulation could have been
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Communists complained that
FISHING LICENSES
lotte
OOkIN
Phone
signatures on their petitioos.
Arbor.
Diaper, Darler Tail
Ea.
need about your new cornmunity, call
because they were printed
rather than written.
The second check involved
dividing the petitions by
circulator to look For
irregularities. Mrs. Sass said
Off or Cutter
lOz.
Promotes FAST Tent
SUNTAN OIL
96~t
For all the
signatures that were invalid,
that some circulators would
have to have been in 24
different communities on the
same day to collect the
While Quantities Last
-
After signatures are
verified by the Board of
Canvassers, all parties will
appear in a single columTf on
the primary ballot in August
and must receive three-tenths
of one percent of the total vote
I~II
signatures in Garden City.
Westland, Redford and Ann
three times to document their
challenge.
The first step was to list all
I’
Kerwin, Detroit deputy clerk;
Orville L. Tungate. Wayne
County deputy clerk; Rose
Lagg, Brownatown Township
clerk and Mary Lou Carey,
Huron TowishiP Clerk.
Mrs. Sass said the group,
although all elected officials,
acted as private citizens and
prepared the ~challeI*e on
their own time, working
evenings and wSent.
They bad also planned to
challenge . the Libertarian
Party, with the second fewest
signatures. buL had to
withdraw the action because
they didn’t have time to go
over the signatures before the
June 8 deadline.
The ballot problem stems
from the fact that a standard
voting machine has room to
list only nine parties. If more
than nine qualify, paper
ballots will be required.
Of II filers, Eugene
Mccarthy, an independent
candidate for President, has
already been disqualified by
the Board of Canvassers
because he does not have the
- backing
of an -orjanhie&
political party.
Mrs. Sass
and
her
associates hope that by
eliminating the Communists,
only nine parties will be
certified and voting can take
place on machines as usual.
However, McCarthy has
filed suit In Federal Court
agah~t the Board of Can’
vassers and Mrs. Sass says
the Communist. Party has
written to the United States
Attorney General protesting
the challenge against them.
The outcome of these legal
actions may still create the
need for a paper bedsheet,
The filing of petitions Is only
the first step in a two-step
process for appearing on the
November ballot. By law a
party who received less than
one percent of the vote cast
for the successful candidate
for Secreatry of State in the
last election, must present the
petitions with signatures
totaling this one percent
Figure. This year the
requirement is for 17,674
her challenge. She believes
there La a good possibility that
all minor parties could
receive .dflclent votes to
qualify unless there is some
move to atop them.
Mrs. Sass, the other clerks,
and about r volunteers went
through all the Communist
party petitions, line by line,
November. “1 do not believe
that all those minor parties
will get that much of the
vote,” be says.
But Mrs. Sass disagrees,
and believes it is important to
block the Communists in the
first stage of the process.
Norma Wallace, South Lyon
clerk, supports Mrs. Sass in
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44c
EACH