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Court of Appeals affirms canvassers' approval of Whitmer recall petitions

Governor Gretchen Whitmer
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LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Appeals has affirmed the Board of State Canvasser’s approval of petitions calling for a recall of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, according to an opinion filed Thursday.

Whitmer had challenged the petitions, which call for her recall based on the executive orders she had issued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court affirmed six of the cases but remanded one so that an error regarding the date on which an executive order was issued may be corrected.

Whitmer and Gilchrist had argued that the challenged petitions did not “adequately describe the authorities cited as reasons for the recall.”

For example, in one case the governor argues that a petition uses ambiguous language because of its use of the word “bars,” which dictionaries describe not only as a place that sells alcoholic beverages, but also a counter where food and beverages are served and other establishments that sell nonalcoholic drinks like coffee.

The court disagreed.

Read the full opinion here.