On June 23, the Wayne County Election Commission reviewed two proposals for recall wording against the seven elected officials in Van Buren Township over their approval of the data center.
One wording proposal for a reason for recall was denied and one was approved.
The Election Commission determines whether each reason for recall is factual and of sufficient clarity.
An attorney for Van Buren Township said he plans to appeal the decision. Under law he has ten days to appeal and then another 40 days to get the court’s decision. If the court does not issue a decision within 40 days, the language is considered approved.
If the appeal to circuit court is unsuccessful, recall supporters have 180 days from the time of wording approval to gather signatures on petitions. Each person targeted for recall must be on a separate petition. The petition circulators must gather at least 25% of the number who voted in the last governor’s election in the township (i.e., at least 3,404 signatures).
Then the petitions are filed with the County Clerk who checks the validity of the signatures for no longer than 22 days.
If there are enough valid signatures, the County Clerk calls a special election to be conducted on the next regular election date that is at least 95 days after the date the recall petition was filed and falls on the May or November regular election date, whichever occurs first.
The recall effort is being led by Jennifer Smith, who is also seeking township residents to run for the offices that will be vacated if the recall is successful.
Targeted for recall are supervisor Kevin McNamara, clerk Leon Wright, treasurer Sharry Budd, and trustees Donald Boynton, William Frazier, Bryon Kelley, and Kevin Martin.