Sidney Township Recall Election - Jed Welder, Sidney Township Trustee

Election scheduled for May 3, 2022

To fully understand how recall elections have changed since 2012, please review the Election Procedures Manual below. The question "Shall (Officeholders Name) be recalled?" no longer appears on the ballot, nor do the reasons for recall. A recall election now becomes a Re-Election. The Officeholder appears on the ballot, if they so choose, as the candidate for their party. The opposing party has the opportunity to nominate a candidate to run against the Officeholder that is subject to recall. Anyone else who would like to run for the position can file Qualifying Petitions to appear as a No Party Candidate as well. The only place Recall will appear on the ballot is above the office heading. A sample ballot is provided below.

Recall wording was filed on November 1, 2021, against Jed Welder from his position of Sidney Township Trustee. One wording was approved by the Election Commission on November 12, 2021.

The following wording was approved by the Election Commission:

On July 5, 2021 Sidney Township Trustee Jed Welder voted nay on the Sidney Township Wind Energy Ordinance, Number 2021-01.

This wording may now be circulated on Recall Petitions and is valid for 180 days. In order for a Recall Election to move forward, 274 signatures of registered Sidney Township voters, must be obtained. At the time of filing the petitions with the county clerk, no signature may be considered if it is more than 60 days old. The latest date the recall petitions can be filed in order to have this recall placed on the May 2022 ballot, is January 28, 2022 at 4 pm

Mr. Welder has until November 22, 2021 to file an appeal in Circuit Court if he wishes to appeal the decision of the Election Commission. Should he file an appeal, the circulation of petitions must stop while the appeal is pending.

February 11, 2022 Update

Recall Petitions were filed with the County Clerk on January 21, 2022. It appears there are 306 valid signatures. 274 valid signatures were required. Mr. Welder has until February 15, 2022, to issue any challenges to the petitions and signatures. Once the County Clerk Calls for the Special Recall Election, which is anticipated on Friday, February 18th, the Democratic Party will have 10 days to nominate a candidate to run for Sidney Township Trustee if they chose. As Mr. Welder ran as a Republican candidate on the November 2020 General Election, and was elected, he will automatically appear on the ballot as the Republican candidate. Additionally, anyone else that would like to run for the position, as a No Party Affiliation candidate, may circulate Qualifying Petitions and obtain a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 30 signatures to appear on the ballot. That filing deadline will be Monday, February 28, 2022, at 4 pm with the Montcalm County Clerk. The top vote-getter between all of the candidates running for Sidney Township Trustee will be declared the elected Trustee following the canvass of the November 8, 2022, General Election.

February 18, 2022 Update

A Notice of Sufficient Signatures and a Call to Election was issued by the Montcalm County Clerk on February 18, 2022. The Special Recall Election for Sidney Township Trustee, Jed Welder, will be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022.