LANSING — Michigan candidates seeking a place on the August primary ballot deserve more time, options and flexibility to collect nominating signatures while the state enforces a stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus, a federal judge ruled early Monday.

U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Berg ordered the state to extend Tuesday’s filing deadline to May 8, halve signature requirements and provide candidates with an option to collect signatures electronically while social distancing.

It was the first ruling of its kind suspending traditional Michigan election law during what Berg called “unprecedented — though understandably necessary — restrictions imposed on daily life” amid the global pandemic.

Berg sided with Eric Esshaki, a Birmingham Republican running in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, who argued Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order made it “impossible” to qualify for the ballot.

Whitmer’s order, set to expire May 1, puts a “severe” and unconstitutional burden on candidates for congress, judicial positions and other offices who are required to collect nominating signatures to make the ballot, Berg ruled.

“The reality on the ground for plaintiff and other candidates is that state action has pulled the rug out from under their ability to collect signatures,” Berg wrote in his 40-page opinion. “Since March 23, 2020, traditional door-to-door signature collecting has become a misdemeanor offense.”