Detroit Council member: clerk must 'fix their mistake' or 'we will prevail in court'
Detroit City Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago-Romero said Wednesday that she expects to pursue legal action against the Wayne County Clerk's Office if it does not correct what she is calling a "clerical error" on the clerk's end, currently preventing her from appearing on the 2025 ballot for reelection to her District 6 council seat.
At issue is a $250 late fee that was assessed on a campaign finance report last fall that the clerk's office was submitted under the wrong category. Santiago-Romero's campaign submitted a quarterly campaign finance report on Oct. 25, 2024, mistakenly filed as a "pre-general" election statement instead of a "quarterly" statement. The county asked her to refile it on Nov. 11, 2024, but the campaign said it is unsure whether the October filing ever appeared on the county's website. But an emailed record shows the county received her October filing.
The District 6 council member released documents and emails on Tuesday, indicating she submitted the paperwork on time, including one requiring her to refile due to an incorrect label on the type of report she submitted.
'The entire basis of the Wayne County Clerk Office's ballot disqualification was the $250 late fee,' Santiago-Romero said in a statement. 'Our campaign has now released conclusive documentation demonstrating that the fee was mistakenly imposed. Detroiters deserve better, which makes the Clerk's inability to answer basic factual questions all the more disappointing.'
The campaign provided text messages to the Free Press between Santiago-Romero and a campaign staffer, outlining that Santiago-Romero said she spoke with a Wayne County elections official, who said the report would be deleted and needed to be resubmitted for the October 2024 quarterly filing. That text was on Oct. 29, 2024. A message was left with the elections official.
"The issue seems to be easy and quick. It looks like we filed under the wrong date. She said she left all the information in 'pending transactions' and that it needs to be amended to be submitted for the 10/20/2024 quarterly," the message from Santiago-Romero reads. "And there are no issues with the county account."
Santiago-Romero then laid out instructions to edit and amend the report to the staffer.
More: Detroit City Council member claims Wayne County erred in reelection campaign filings
More: Detroit mayoral, city candidates submit petitions to run for office in 2025 election
The councilmember refiled the same campaign finance report after noticing it did not appear on Wayne County's campaign finance website and received an emailed confirmation receipt from the county on Nov. 8, 2024. The county notified the campaign the data was saved but the report was deleted, then claimed the campaign filed it on Nov. 8, but Santiago-Romero's campaign claims it was filed beforehand.
The clerk's office then hit the council member with a $250 late filing fee in a Nov. 11, 2024 letter. On April 21, Santiago-Romero and a campaign staffer attempted to pay the fee, despite claiming they filed on time, at the county clerk's office and resubmit, but they say they were told it was too late. They said they tried explaining the situation but the clerk's office had "very little record" of any communication regarding the Oct. 25, 2024 filing.
The council member said her campaign submitted at least double the amount of required signatures to appear on the ballot and "complied fully with the law" throughout.
'The Clerk's Office must do the right thing for the people of District 6 and fix their mistake. If not, we are confident we will prevail in court," Santiago-Romero said.
Branden Snyder, director of the Working Families Party, in a statement Wednesday urged Wayne County to allow Santiago-Romero to appear on the ballot. Snyder said voters "risk being disenfranchised and prevented from participating in a critical election to decide the future of Detroit neighborhoods."
'Brave workers at the Wayne County Elections Division withstood mobs of white supremacists in 2020 to uphold the voting rights of Detroiters. But now, the Clerk's office is endangering the right of Detroit District 6 voters to choose their candidate," Snyder said in a statement. 'This is a case of human error at the Wayne County Clerk's office that could erode our community's trust in electoral systems at a critical time. The Clerk's office should do the right thing by owning up to their mistake and allowing Santiago-Romero to appear on the August ballot.'
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero disqualified from ballot
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