By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
Brandon Twp.— In May, the Brandon Township board of trustees voted to take legal action against Oakland County due to an error that resulted in several area candidates for library board positions to be disqualified from the August and November ballots.
On Aug. 6, Honorable David M. Cohen, Oakland County Circuit Court judge, dismissed the lawsuit.
“It’s very unfortunate that the case was dismissed,” said Brandon Township Clerk Roselyn Blair.
Following the April 23 filing deadline, the six candidates for the Brandon Township Library Board were disqualified, and due to state law, they were not able to file to run for the general election. Brandon was not the only township to have this issue, as candidates for library boards in Holly, Oxford and Oakland townships were also disqualified.
Director of elections for Oakland County said the issue was that the affidavit of identity that the candidates filled out was incorrect according to state law. The law in question is an amendment to 1954 Public Act 116, section 558. It states that an affidavit of identity must contain the date of the election in which the candidate wishes to appear on the ballot, but the amendment does not give provisions for library boards which could potentially appear on the primary or the general election depending on the number of candidates running. The amendment was signed into law in 2021.
“I highly encourage all those interested in running for library board to file for a write-in by Oct. 25,” said Blair.