A sitting Michigan city council member's re-election could be in jeopardy after he was accused of forging a signature on a petition to qualify someone else to vote.
Monique Lamar Sylvia, a 64-year-old pageant organizer and prison minister, is a city council member in Saginaw, Michigan, a blue-collar city of about 44,000 people located about 100 miles northwest of Detroit. She is also one of 11 candidates vying for five four-year City Council seats this year.
After examining the signatures, City Clerk Christine Boltzmann determined that at least three of the new signatures were not legitimate.
One local resident, Eric Eggleston, is not among those eligible to run for Saginaw City Council in 2024, but Lamar Sylvia is clearly the best person to support his challenge. It appears that he has done his best.
The official deadline for filing candidacy for the city council election was July 23 at 4 p.m. That day, Eggleston reportedly learned he was six signatures short of the 50 required to qualify to run.
video footage Photos taken inside and outside Saginaw City Hall show Eggleston and Lamar Sylvia heading to the building in the late afternoon, less than an hour before the deadline. M live Reported.
Eggleston entered the building, picked up two more petitions, and went outside to try to gather six more signatures. According to the video, Lamar Sylvia tried to help him, but an officer soon warned her that she had to get down the entrance ramp to do so.
Lamar Sylvia complied and ultimately collected at least one more signature for Eggleston. Carly Hammond, who is also running for a two-year partial seat on the City Council, happened to arrive at City Hall around that time and agreed to sign Eggleston's petition.
“I was there. I signed the petition. I was trying to help them as they were trying to get signatures in a hurry,” Hammond later said. WJRT.
But the clock was ticking, and Lamar Sylvia eventually knelt next to a concrete surface near the entrance to the building and began writing on Eggleston's petition for a while, the video shows. During this time, she also interacted with several people.
With just two minutes remaining, Eggleston submitted a new form with six new signatures. However, after examining those signatures, City Clerk Christine Boltzmann determined that at least three of the new signatures were not legitimate.
“It was clear that voters did not sign the sheets themselves,” Boltzmann's office officials wrote in a memo obtained by MLive through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Other communications from the office obtained by MLive show that a witness saw Lamar Sylvia “filling out a petition for an extended period of time” while checking his cell phone, and that staff members said Lamar Sylvia was “recommended.” It was revealed that he suspected that the suspect was attempting to falsify signatures on the petition. repeat. ”
Mr. Boltzmann then contacted Michigan election officials about the incident, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office later confirmed that Mr. Lamar-Silvia was still under investigation.
michigan law It strictly prohibits individuals from signing petitions under multiple names, and doing so could result in serious charges.
Lamar Sylvia did not respond to multiple requests for comment from MLive. But Mr Eggleston defended her, saying: “I fully support and support the councillor.”
Mr. Eggleston ultimately did not qualify for the 2024 ballot. He is not the subject of any investigation.
As well as other Saginaw City candidates included in Unofficial Saginaw County General Election ListLamar Sylvia has no formal political party affiliation.
H/T: dave bondi
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