Conyers can run

A Federal judge has put Rep. John Conyers back on the ballot, after his campaign appealed the possible unconstitutionality of the requirements:

Hundreds of signatures the Conyers campaign had gathered for the Aug. 5 primary had been ruled invalid by the county clerk and secretary of state after a challenge by the Rev. Horace Sheffield, Conyers's primary opponent, on the grounds they were not collected by registered voters. Hundreds more signatures were separately rejected.

Sheffield’s campaign successfully argued that three of Conyers’s petition-gatherers weren’t registered voters at the time they were collecting signatures.

Of course some people are yelping about double standards, because another Michigander, Republican Thaddeus McCotter, wasn't allowed to run last time over "signature issues". Sounds like a fair complaint until you realize McCotter was thrown off the ballot after several of his nominating petitions were found to be faked. Conyers' petitions were genuine, just collected by people who weren't supposed to be collecting them. Not quite the same thing.

And frankly, I can't see any good purpose to requiring that only people registered to vote in that district can collect signatures. I suppose it's to prevent "foreigners" from having an influence on the election... though pounding the pavement to get signatures seems a lot less dangerous than pouring money into another district - or state - election, doesn't it?