Was there any legal justification beyond “I’m a federal judge and I say so?”
From a USA article I just found:
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But Leitman said the signatures from at least two ciruclators who were found to have not registered properly to vote, a requirement under state law, should be reinstated, giving Conyers enough valid signatures to be on the ballot.
“There is evidence that their failure to comply with the Registration Statute was the result of good faith mistakes and that they believed they were in compliance with the statute,” Leitman said in his ruling.
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Sounds pretty thin to me, seems the SoS would be in a much better position than a federal judge to determine that, the people either legally registered or they didn’t.