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Bill Bazzi recall, Dearborn Heights, Michigan (2023)

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Bill Bazzi recall
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Officeholders
Bill Bazzi
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Signature requirement
25% of votes cast in the last general election
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2023
Recalls in Michigan
Michigan recall laws
Mayoral recalls
Recall reports

An effort to recall Mayor Bill Bazzi failed to gain approval to begin gathering signatures in Dearborn Heights, Michigan.[1][2]

Recall supporters

The recall effort was organized by Dearborn Heights resident Zouhair Abdel-Hak in response to the hiring of a police commissioner and police chief without appointments from the Police and Fire Civil Service Commission.[1] Petitions state the following as reasons for recalling Bazzi:[3]

Mayor Bazzi violated the charter and PA78, which was adopted by the voters in November 1964 to oversee the police and fire departments. He hired two directors to the police department without following the rules of PA78. He did not have the authority to do so.[4]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan

A recall petition must first be filed with the appropriate board, which then holds a hearing to determine whether the reason for the petition is "factual" and "clear;" that is the only criteria considered by the board to approve or reject the petition.

Once approved by the board, the petitioner must amass a number of signatures equal to 25 percent of the number of votes cast in the last general election in the electoral district of the officer sought to be recalled.[5] The petitioner has 60 days to collect these signatures beginning on the date the first signature is collected; however, the petition must be submitted no later than 180 days after it was approved by the board. For recall of state officials, the petition is submitted to the Michigan Secretary of State; for local officials, the petition is submitted to the county or township clerk in the county where the official resides.

Organizers in this recall effort filed petitions on July 7, 2023. The Wayne County Election Commission unanimously rejected the petitions in a clarity hearing on July 25, 2023.[6] Petitioners would have needed about 4,500 valid signatures to put the recall election on the ballot.[1]

See also

External links

Footnotes