Lawsuit alleging fraud filed to block Cornel West from Michigan’s presidential ballot

Presidential candidate Cornel West in Detroit on Feb. 5, 2024 | Ken Coleman

Following a complaint to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers at the end of July, a Bay City community activist has filed a lawsuit against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to block independent presidential candidate Cornel West from appearing on the November ballot.

Rosa Holliday, a longtime civil rights and community activist previously requested the board of state canvassers disqualify West from the ballot, alleging his qualifying petitions were “rife with forged signatures.”

On Monday, Mark Brewer, Holliday’s attorney and a former Michigan Democratic party chair, announced on X they had filed a suit to keep West off the ballot.

Brewer told Michigan Advance in an email that the suit supplements the facts and legal arguments made in the earlier complaint. The case was filed with the Michigan Court of Claims and has been assigned to Judge Christopher Yates.

“We filed because the [secretary of state] hasn’t made a decision and the deadline to finalize the ballot is only a few weeks away,” Brewer said.

The Board of Canvassers will consider West’s petitions at their Aug. 26 meeting, Michigan Department of State Communications and Media Relations Director Angela Benander told the Advance in a text message.

Ballots will start printing on Sept. 6.

The West campaign did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

In a previous response to the complaint filed on the campaign’s qualifying petitions, West spokesperson Edwin DeJesus said the campaign views the challenge as “part of a broader attempt to undermine the democratic process rather than legitimate legal objections,” arguing the allegations “focus on procedural issues such as incomplete voter information and errors by petition circulators, disproportionately emphasizing technicalities over substantial compliance.”

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