As reported by the news service MIRS, PMT, the front group for the Associated Builders and Contractors- Michigan, submitted a protest by their election attorneys, who said the Bureau of Elections' decision to expand the petition review from the original 535 to an additional 4,000 signatures is "arbitrary" and "wastes the Bureau's valuable resources," while arguing that a review philosophy should be applied that "ties go to the runner," meaning if there is doubt about a signature, it should be counted, rather than rejected.

Protect Michigan Taxpayers submitted 379,903 petition signatures as part of their effort to repeal the Michigan Prevailing Wage Act, to the state Bureau of Elections late last year, although they only need 252,523 valid signatures. An initial sampling of 535 names revealed enough questionable signatures to prompt the state Bureau of Election, citing past practice, to pull a greater sampling of 4,000 names to see if the trend holds. 

The state Board of Canvassers meets as needed and does not have a meeting scheduled so far this month, and it isn't clear when, or if, they will address the PMT request to drop the additional signature reviews.  

"When we found so many questionable signatures and submitted our protest of the PMT petitions, the first reaction by the state Bureau of Elections earlier this month was the right one, it was to pull more signatures for review," said Patrick Devlin, secretary treasurer of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. "So, as far as we're concerned, nothing has changed, and let's everyone keep out of the way while the state's review process moves forward. The additional sampling of signatures is either going to show they have enough valid signatures, or not enough. But I can understand why the ABC- Michigan and Protecting Michigan Taxpayers are concerned after their fiasco in 2015, when their first petition drive to repeal prevailing wage was rejected by the state after they submitted so many invalid signatures."