Rejection of signatures for Dearborn ballot petition spotlights need for more culturally sensitive process, group says

A petition to change the structure of Dearborn's City Council from at-large seats to ward-based representation has hit a snag this week after the city clerk rejected thousands of signatures as duplicates or not matching a voter's signature on file.

The group behind the petition, Dearborn Wants Wards, believes signatures were wrongly rejected, saying common Muslim and Arab names are frequently falsely flagged as duplicates. The group is reviewing all the signatures deemed invalid, and the lead organizer says the issue is indicative of a need for a more culturally sensitive signature review process.

"We are operating in good faith," said Mona Mawari, the group's leader. "We know that when you're dealing with such large numbers of signatures that you have to verify that there's going to be mistakes in the verifying process, and we just want to make sure that no one person's signature is unjustly disqualified."

The group seeks to change the city council from seven at-large seats to geographic ward-based representation. Organizers submitted nearly 6,300 signatures to the clerk's office in June. But City Clerk George Darany said in a July 14 letter to Mawari the petition fell short by 439 signatures needed to make the ballot. In total, 2,838 signatures were deemed invalid.



https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2025/07/18/dearborn-clerk-rejects-signatures-from-petition-to-change-city-council-structure/85259187007/