Elections Division to Finish Reviewing Mayor's Signature Challenges This Week

The Oakland County Elections Division is expected to complete its review of a as early as today, Elections Director Joe Rozell said in an interview with Troy Patch on Thursday.

Daniels submitted a letter challenging more than 1,000 signatures late Thursday afternoon, just 10 minutes before the 4:30 p.m. deadline. The Elections Division already determined out of more than 9,300 signatures submitted on June 12 by the political action committee Recall Janice Daniels.

According to Rozell, many of the signatures Daniels is challenging have already been thrown out by the Elections Division. Daniels also challenged the authenticity of the dates on some of the petitions, he said, alleging that someone other than the individual signing the petition may have filled in some of the dates on the petitions.

"We’ve not found a single instance where the way the petition was dated appears different, or that it looks like it was done by a single individual," Rozell said Thursday.

Meanwhile, Daniels said she felt it was her duty to challenge the signatures.

"I have an obligation to my many supporters to challenge the validity of this unwarranted political attack," Daniels told the Detroit News on Friday.

The issue, which Troy City Attorney Lori Grigg Bluhm said "would basically be ," will be on the Nov. 6 ballot in Troy if at least 7,985 signatures are still valid after Daniels' challenge.

The issue on the ballot "would be a yes or no question," Troy City Clerk Aileen Bittner said in a previous interview with Troy Patch. “The law says that if there are more yes votes than no votes, that’s it.”

Bittner said what would happen next, if the mayor is recalled, is tricky.

“According to the charter, in the absence of the mayor, the mayor pro tem assumes responsibilities. Beyond that, the city attorney and I would need to do an analysis to determine what would happen next.”

Complete coverage

Daniels first came under fire in December for her  and has remained the center of controversy after  (a  was later approved), telling the  Gay-Straight Alliance she would bring in an expert to tell them  and writing a lengthy position paper some viewed as .

For comprehensive coverage of the recall effort, visit the Troy Mayor Janice Daniels topic page. For the latest Troy news and information, follow Troy Patch on Facebook and Twitter and sign up for the daily newsletter.