LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the results of a statewide investigation involving Unlock Michigan on Wednesday afternoon.
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Nessel says Erik Tisinger and Gretchen Hertz, two of the nine subjects of the investigation, instructed petition circulators in "nefarious ways," but their actions do not rise to the level of warranting criminal charges.
"Our investigation found clear evidence of misrepresentation by petition circulators, and questionable training by persons who were recruited and were supposed to supervise paid circulators, those incidents were not in violation of any criminal statute," Nessel said.
Examples of misrepresentation Nessel's office found include telling individuals that signing the petition would help get it on the ballot.
In addition, circulators told individuals it was okay to sign others' names in their place.
However, there is no law that expressly prohibits false statements about the purpose of the petition to a voter in an attempt to obtain the voter's signature, Nessel said.
The circulator would also not directly commit a crime unless and until they actually certified the signature, attesting to the fact that the voter signature is genuine.
