Judge Rules Against Plaintiff in Lawsuit Over Candidate Listing on Allegan Co. Ballot

GRAND RAPIDS, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Sept. 15, 2024) – It looks as if ballots for the November 5^th General Election in a portion of Allegan County can be printed up on Monday as scheduled.

On Friday, Kent County Circuit Court Judge George Quist denied a request by Democrat Christi Allen to prevent Allegan County Clerk Bob Genetski from printing up ballots in the county’s third board district with the name of Brad Luebbers as the Republican Party nominee. The county’s Republican Party leadership named Luebbers to replace Dean Kapenga, who had died on August 5^th. The incumbent commissioner had been the only person to file his candidacy by the April deadline as prescribed by state law.

Allen, who had lost to Kapenga in the 2016 general election by over a thousand votes, filed suit, saying that the county GOP had no authority to choose Luebbers to replace Kapenga, whose name was still on the August 6^th Primary Election ballot, and that Genetski had no authority to put Luebbers’ name on the General Election ballot. Quist rejected Genetski’s claim of laches in that Allen did attempt to resolve the matter by contacting the clerk’s office, the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, and the state Bureau of Elections, and had filed her suit afterward in both the state Court of Claims and the 48^th Circuit Court in Allegan. The judges in the Allegan court recused themselves in this matter.

However, Quist did rule in Genetski’s favor in rejecting Allen’s request for a writ of mandamus in asking that no names be placed on the District 3 board ballot. The judge said that the plaintiff did not have a “clear, legal right” for such a request, and that the clerk did not have a “clear, legal duty” to follow Allen’s wishes. He added that state law is silent on such a situation as this, and that Genetski had made his decision with the advice of the Secretary of State’s office.

It was not immediately known if Allen, who reportedly has already submitted her name for write-in eligibility on the November 5^th ballot, will appeal this ruling to a higher court. Monday is the deadline for ballots to be sent for printing.