State reviews U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter's petitions for criminal fraud

State reviews U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter's petitions for criminal fraud


"My gut tells me that we got lied to by someone we trusted," U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter said of the petition irregularities. / CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/ASSOCIATED PRESS


By Kathleen Gray and Dawson Bell

Detroit Free Press Staff Writers

Brian Dickerson: Thaddeus McCotter turns election cakewalk into Mt. Everest

Photocopies of petitions, dates that were cut and pasted onto the petition forms and different-colored ink on identical petitions were just a few of the tactics used to try to fool state election officials into believing that U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter had enough signatures to get on the Aug. 7 primary ballot.

"This wasn't anything that was an innocent mistake," Lansing political consultant Tom Shields said Tuesday. "It was purely an attempt to make up for a lack of signatures, which is politically criminal."

Or maybe just plain criminal. The state Attorney General's Office is investigating to determine whether any laws were broken.

"We will review information provided by the Secretary of State and determine whether additional action is warranted," said Joy Yearout, spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Schuette.

The ploy was so clumsy that it was easily spotted.

Bureau of Elections Director Christopher Thomas said Tuesday that elections officials found an "unprecedented level" of obvious fraud, including dozens of identical petition sheets that had been photocopied. In some cases, the petitions were identical except for the name of the circulator.

More:
http://www.freep.com/article/20120530/NEWS15/205300359/State-reviews-U-S-Rep-Thaddeus-McCotter-s-petitions-for-criminal-fraud