Governor Rick Snyder (R-Mich.) may soon be looking at his last days in office after the State Board of Canvassers approved the circulation of a petition for his removal - but not over the ongoing water crisis in Flint.
The Board of State Canvassers, part of the secretary of state's office, rejected nine other recall petitions, six of which were due to Snyder's handling of lead from corroded pipes that began leaching into Flint homes following a cost-saving move to pump water from the Flint River, due to wording and even misspellings, according to The Detroit News.
Members of the 100 person group who presented the petitions were outraged over the rejections, arguing that the meaning was still discernible and the board was valuing semantics over the well-being of the people in Flint.
"Spelling errors do not imply ignorance. It's just a sleight of hand," Rev. David Alexander Bullock of Detroit who submitted two of the petitions.
"You are playing with semantics and in the meantime my family and members of my family have been poisoned," said Dorothy Batchelder, a Holly resident with more than 30 family members living in Flint, according to Michigan Live.
However, board member Julie Matuzak said words do matter in the recall language being presented. She argued that the petition could be thrown out if it is challenged and it's wording is found to be misleading.
"Words do matter, and spelling does matter," she said. "And when a person signs a recall petition they have a right to expect that their signature will count for something."
The only accepted petition was based on Snyder's decision last year to take control of the state office to reform schools, which organizers say disregards local prerogative.
Now accepted by the board, the petition will remain valid for 180 days. To move forward organizers have 60 days within that 180-day period to collect 789,133 valid signatures. If successful, the question would be put before voters statewide, likely on the state's Aug. 2, 2016, ballot, according to NBC's Central Michigan affiliate WLIX-TV.
Snyder has said repeatedly he wants to fix the problem in Flint and will not resign.
In the meantime, the petitions that were rejected have been handed back to their respective proposers for revisions. Some have already expressed willingness to make the required amendments, but many have already noted that concerning the gravity of the situation, any petition calling for Snyder's removal would have sufficed.
"As long as something got approved, the spaghetti stuck to the wall. Something stuck to the wall and out of ten one did get approved," said Flint resident Arthur Woodson.
