The House Committee on Election Integrity held a hearing Oct. 22 on House Bill 4861, which would remove the requirement that candidates for nonpartisan offices indicate party affiliation on their affidavit of identity.

Sponsor Representative Matt Outman introduced the bill and said it is a “simple but important fix” to Michigan election law intended to prevent qualified candidates from being disqualified over a paperwork technicality. He said the change would reflect the reality that nonpartisan offices appear in a ballot section where party labels do not appear.

Third Circuit Court Judge Kelly Ramsey testified in support of the bill, saying she was the target of litigation in 2022 over leaving the party-affiliation line blank on her affidavit when she ran for a nonpartisan judicial position. “It is a continuing saga and it subjected to me and other members of my bench to considerable stress, aggravation, and quite frankly, financial loss,” Ramsey said. She told the committee she hand-delivered her affidavit to the Michigan Department of State Bureau of Elections on March 9, 2022, and that a supervisor at the filing window assured her the affidavit was filled out correctly. Ramsey said she later received an email from an analyst at the bureau confirming the 2022 affidavit was “100% accurate.”

Ramsey said the challenge to her candidacy ultimately failed not on the merits but under the doctrine of laches because the plaintiff filed too late. She urged the Legislature to provide statutory clarity so other nonpartisan candidates are not removed from ballots over the same issue.

Judge Margaret Van Houten, also of the Third Circuit Court, said the affidavit issue affects anyone running for nonpartisan offices, including city councils and mayors. “It impacts anybody running for nonpartisan office,” Van Houten said, adding that the affidavit form and administrative practice should not produce outcomes where eligible candidates are removed from ballots.

Representative Wooden asked whether the affidavit form itself has been revised administratively; Wooden suggested comparing the version Ramsey filed with the current form because the Department of State may have corrected the form since 2022. Representative Outman said he would provide the affidavit Ramsey referenced to the committee.

The committee recorded one formal motion before the hearing: Representative Jason Fox moved to adopt the minutes from Sept. 30; the minutes were adopted by unanimous consent. The hearing on House Bill 4861 proceeded with testimony and read-in support from clerks, Department of State staff, the State Court Administrative Office and judicial associations, but the committee did not take a vote on the bill during the session and no committee action on the bill was recorded.