Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau

LANSING — Citizens outraged over the lead contamination of Flint's drinking water continue to submit petitions to recall Gov. Rick Snyder, but so far, none has cracked the code of a toughened 2012 state law that requires every stated reason for a proposed recall to be clear and factual.

On Thursday, during a meeting at the Lansing Center, the Board of State Canvassers rejected two efforts to start recall petitions against Snyder.

In all, the board rejected eight recall petitions in 4-0 votes. But seven of the petitions were filed by the same person, Angelo Scott Brown of Detroit, who has had several previous recall petitions rejected on the grounds that they did not clearly and factually state the reasons for the proposed recall. Brown did not attend Thursday's meetings, where his latest petitions were also rejected.

The other petition was from Flint resident and community activist Quincy Murphy. He wants to recall Snyder for "failing to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Flint, which has resulted in a state of emergency for Genesee County due to toxic lead levels in the drinking water."

Murphy told the board Snyder "failed on numerous occasions" and admitted to it in his State of the State address this month. Murphy submitted as evidence the state's emergency declaration for Genesee County and other documents.

Snyder attorney John Pirich said the Murphy petition does not meet the legal standard because it "consists of Mr. Murphy's unsubstantiated opinions and conclusions." The same applies to all of the petitions submitted by Brown, Pirich said.

If any reason given for a recall is not clear and factual, the entire petition must fail under a recall law that was made much more stringent by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2012.

Murphy said he disagrees with the board's decision, which he sees as political. But he said he plans to return to the board with revised language.

Several Flint-area residents spoke in favor of Murphy's petition, including Flint resident Claire McClinton.

"This man-made issue is such a devastation to not only the citizens of Flint but to the State of Michigan," McClinton said. Having put Flint under an emergency manager, even after Michigan voters rejected an earlier version of the state's emergency manager law, "the governor owns this issue," she said.

Julie Matuzak, a Democratic appointee to the board, said she's sympathetic to the petitioners, but "we are limited by the Legislature in terms of recall language."

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If petitions are approved, those trying to recall Snyder would have to collect about 790,000 signatures in a 60-day period to get on the ballot.

Snyder officials say the governor, a Republican who can't run again in 2018 because of term limits, views recall efforts as part of the democratic process and they won't distract him from his work and his focus on addressing drinking water and health issues in Flint.

The Legislature in 2012 passed bills that made it tougher to recall lawmakers and other elected officials, including the governor. The package restricted the time periods for voters to launch recalls, shortened the time period for collecting the required signatures, and, for the first time, required that the reasons cited for a proposed recall be factual.

On Wednesday, the Free Press reported on a new poll from EPIC-MRA of Lansing that showed a drop in support for Snyder, with 69% of those surveyed saying Snyder has done a poor job of responding to the Flint drinking water crisis. At the same time, only 29% of those surveyed said Snyder should resign from office.

Flint drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 after the city, while under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager, temporarily switched its source from Lake Huron water treated by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to water from the Flint River, treated at the Flint water treatment plant.

Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant resigned in December after acknowledging the DEQ failed to require the addition of needed corrosion-control chemicals to the corrosive Flint River water. As a result, lead leached from pipes, joints and fixtures, contaminating the drinking water for an unknown number of Flint households. Lead causes permanent brain damage in children, as well as other health problems.

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For months, state officials downplayed reports of lead in the water and a spike in the lead levels in the blood of Flint children before acknowledging a problem Oct. 1. Since then, Snyder has faced repeated questions about when he first knew there was too much lead in Flint's drinking water.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660, pegan@freepress.com or on Twitter @paulegan4