Update to this story.

DETROIT (AP) — Longtime Congressman John Conyers of Michigan doesn’t have enough signatures to appear on the Aug. 5 primary ballot, an elections official announced Tuesday.

Conyers’ nominating petitions were insufficient, Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett said in a statement.

It follows her report last week finding Conyers more than 400 signatures short of 1,000 needed. Garrett said Tuesday that he had 592 valid signatures after challenges.

The 84-year-old Detroit Democrat was at risk because officials believe several people who circulated his petitions do not appear to have been registered voters or had registered too late.

Conyers has three days to appeal Garrett’s ruling to the Michigan Secretary of State.

“It is a very unfortunate circumstance that an issue with a circulator of a petition would disqualify the signature of valid registered voter,” Garrett said. “However, I am bound by the current laws and statutes of the state of Michigan that set forth very specific and narrow instructions regarding candidate petitions.”

Federal court actions, meanwhile, are taking aim at the requirement that petition collectors be registered voters. The ACLU has filed suit to change state law. If neither happens, Conyers can run as a write-in. If he wins the primary as a write-in, he would qualify for the general election ballot.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan launched a successful write-in campaign in last year’s mayoral primary after his name was not allowed on the ballot due to a residency issue.