Calumet’s Missing Petition Misses Deadline
The deadline for public referendum petitions came and went on Tuesday of this week. Normally, that wouldn’t be news. But in the case of Calumet, that means a previously submitted petition to make the village’s clerk an elected position will not go on the ballot. Houghton County Clerk Jen Kelly asked around to find out if the petition had been submitted. But she said it never showed up.
“Amber just called me back from the village, and she said that nothing was turned in. So no copies of the petition were turned in. So as far as the clerk we are, I guess as clerks we’re waiting to see what happens. What the petitioner does. What the board does. What anyone does. We’ve never been through anything like this, where there’s missing petitions.” – Jen Kelly, Houghton County Clerk
Now that the deadline has passed, the case of whether or not the village clerk seat will appear on the may ballot falls to the village council. That’s because municipalities have a more time to submit ballot language for the upcoming election.
“If they were looking for mileage, if they were looking for whatever, like I said, any of the above, [they] have the right to put something on the ballot. So right now I guess we wait to see what the one petitioner does, what anybody does. To get on the May ballot they can still submit something to me, by four o’clock on February 8th.” – Jen Kelly
The Calumet village council must submit ballot language to the county clerk by February 8th at 4 pm. If it is submitted, Kelly, she will verify the language and have the item added to the ballot for the May election. The next village council meeting will be February 15th