(DailyChive.com) – A Michigan city councilwoman’s re-election bid could be in trouble after she was accused of forging signatures to help a friend get on the ballot.
Monique Lamar-Silvia, 64, is a pageant organizer, prison minister, and current member of the Saginaw city council. Saginaw, a working-class city of 44,000 people, sits about 100 miles northwest of Detroit. Lamar-Silvia is one of 11 candidates running for five council seats with four-year terms.
On July 23—the last day for candidates to file their petitions—Eric Eggleston, a local resident hoping to run for council, discovered that he was six signatures short of the 50 needed to qualify. Video footage captured him and Lamar-Silvia at Saginaw City Hall just before the 4 p.m. deadline, scrambling to get those final signatures.
Eggleston grabbed two blank petition sheets and tried gathering names outside. Lamar-Silvia also attempted to help, though an official told her she needed to move off the entrance ramp while doing so. Witnesses said she managed to collect at least one signature.
At one point, Carly Hammond, another council candidate running for a different two-year seat, happened to show up and agreed to sign Eggleston’s petition. “I was just trying to help them out since they were rushing,” Hammond told reporters.
With time running out, Lamar-Silvia was seen kneeling near the entrance, writing on Eggleston’s petition sheets and checking her phone repeatedly. Just two minutes before the deadline, Eggleston turned in his forms with six new signatures.
However, City Clerk Kristine Bolzman later ruled that at least three of the signatures were fake. “It was clear the voters hadn’t signed the sheets themselves,” said a memo from Bolzman’s office, obtained through a Freedom of Information request. Officials believe Lamar-Silvia may have forged the signatures, based on reports of her writing on the petition for an extended period. Bolzman reported the incident to Michigan election officials, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office confirmed that Lamar-Silvia is now under investigation.
Michigan law strictly prohibits forging names on petitions, with violators facing potential felony charges. Lamar-Silvia has not responded to requests for comment, though Eggleston defended her, saying, “I fully support my Councilwoman”.
While Lamar-Silvia remains under investigation, Eggleston didn’t qualify for the ballot and is not facing any legal action. Like other Saginaw candidates, Lamar-Silvia is running without a formal party affiliation.
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