Petition to create new political party in Michigan delayed by typos

LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – Michigan could see another political party join the ranks in the coming months. 

The Commonsense Party is led by former Michigan Republican Party executive director Jeff Timmer. Timmer is working to get the party recognized by the state. 

“We’ve formed a new party to continue to assert our voices into the process to help be a force multiplier in the effort to bring sanity and stability back to our political system,” said Timmer.

He says the group’s base will focus solely on supporting democracy. 

“We value democracy, free and fair elections, and we want to confront and reduce extremism and radicalization, quite honestly in our in our politics,” Timmer said. 

He also outlined a method of voting called fusion voting which, if implemented, would mean more than one party could nominate the same candidate. 

“That used to be the practice in Michigan,” Timmer said. “It’s used in other states, and that’s what we would like to see where we can be. Like I say, a force multiplier and never a spoiler in an election.”

Timmer had planned for the Board of State Canvassers to consider his petition to create the party, but he tells CBS News Detroit he withdrew the petition for a little dater because of a few typos within the petition. 

Neither the state Democratic or Republican parties were available for comment.