A recall campaign targeting all seven elected officials in Michigan’s Augusta Township has been invalidated because some petition circulators filled out their own addresses incorrectly.
For people fighting a major rezoning tied to a proposed data center, the outcome shows how procedural requirements can stop a grassroots effort before voters get a say.
Here’s what to know
Washtenaw County Clerk Larry Kestenbaum ruled on August 12 that the recall petitions were “legally insufficient,” a decision that left Augusta Township resident Wendy Albers “angry,” according to MLive. The ruling turned on a technical defect in how some circulators listed their addresses, not on whether the campaign had enough valid signatures.
The filing, submitted July 27 and hundreds of pages long, sought recalls of the entire Augusta Township Board of Trustees. The campaign grew out of the board’s 2025 votes to rezone more than 500 acres for a hyperscale data center project…