Matt Morgan, the lone Democrat running for Republican Rep. Jack Bergman's seat, may not be on the August 2018 primary ballot.

According to a press release Tuesday morning from Morgan's campaign, Morgan used a Post Office box address on the heading of the nominating petition he submitted to the state. Under state election laws, that would invalidate his nominating petition.

Morgan's campaign says the state Board of Canvassers has not made a decision yet on the legality of the nomination signatures, but the Michigan Bureau of Elections notified the campaign last Friday, April 27 that it would not recommend that the board certify the petition signatures.

If the 1,543 signatures Morgan submitted are not certified, he will not qualify to be placed on the August primary ballot. He could be a write-in candidate.

Morgan's campaign says if the Board of Canvassers determines he will not be on the primary ballot, he could still be on November's general election ballot though a successful write-in campaign in the Democratic primary.

How many write-in votes would Morgan need in August to get his name on November's ballot? The answer is complex.

According to state election law, Morgan must receive more votes than any other candidate seeking nomination to the position

and meet a vote threshold.

Under the state's vote threshold formula, the number of votes received by the write-in candidate must equal the greater of the following:

1) 10 votes.

2) .15 of 1% (.0015) of the total population, as reflected by the last official federal census, of the district represented by the office sought by the write-in candidate. (The 1st District has a population around 700,000 people, so this would be about 1,050 votes)

3) 5% (.05) of the greatest number of votes cast under the write-in candidate's party for all candidates running for any office for which only one candidate is to be elected within the district represented by the office sought by the write-in candidate. To determine the number of votes required under this formula:

• Working with the write-in candidate's party, identify the "Vote for One" office on the ballot that received the greatest total number of votes. In a partisan primary, this office is typically a "top of the ticket" office, i.e., Governor or U.S. Senator. Do not take into consideration any office where more than one candidate is to be elected (e.g., township trustee).

• Next, determine the total number of votes received by all candidates who ran for that office within the district represented by the office sought by the write-in candidate. (For example, if the write-in candidate ran for a countywide office, it would be necessary to include all of the votes cast for all of the candidates running for the office that received the greatest number of votes within the county. If the write-in candidate ran for a township office, it would only be necessary to include all of the votes cast for all of the candidates running for the office that received the highest number of votes within the township.)

In a statement, Morgan said he would be fighting his legitimacy as the sole Democratic candidate for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District.

“As a Marine, I respect the law and the public servants who enforce it. But I will not allow thousands of voters in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula to be disenfranchised based on what is otherwise an easily verifiable fact: That I am a legally qualified candidate with the documented support required to appear on the Primary Election ballot," said Morgan.

It's unclear when the state Board of Canvassers will make its decision on Morgan's nomination signatures. Morgan would also have to a file a Declaration of Intent to run as a write-in.

The Michigan Republican Party says this development shows Morgan has an inability to follow directions.

“Matthew Morgan failed to do the most basic of tasks, that is, putting his correct home address on a government form as required by statute," said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser in a statement. "In my experience, Congressmen deal with a lot of government forms and statutes. If you can’t follow a clear legal requirement, you’re probably not the right person to write or review federal legislation, let alone make the tough budget decisions that our representatives in Washington must make.”

This is a developing story. Watch for more information tonight on your TV6 News.