On Sep. 9, 2022, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers certified a citizen-initiated measure to amend voting policies for the election on Nov. 8. The initiative will appear on the ballot as Proposal 2.
The certification came after the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Proposal 2. Attorneys for the Defend Your Vote group, which opposes the initiative, filed a challenge against the initiative campaign in August. The challenge said that the initiative “fails to strictly adhere, as required, to the form required by the Michigan Constitution and state statute” and that it does not identify all the provisions of the Michigan Constitution it would abrogate.
On Sept. 8, the Supreme Court sided with the initiative campaign and ordered the Board of State Canvassers to certify the measure for the election on Nov. 8, 2022.
The Promote the Vote 2022 campaign submitted 669,972 signatures on July 11, 2022, in order to qualify the measure for the ballot. The campaign needed 425,059 valid signatures in order to qualify the measure. On Aug. 25, the State of Michigan Bureau of Elections reported that the measure submitted an estimate of 507,780 valid signatures.
If approved by voters this November, the measure would:
- amend the Michigan Constitution to provide voters with a right to vote without harassment, interference, or intimidation;
- require military or overseas ballots to be counted if postmarked by election day;
- allow for a signed affidavit, as an alternative to the existing photo ID requirement, to vote;
- provide voters with a right to use a single application to vote absentee in all elections;
- require state-funded postage for absentee applications and ballots;
- require one state-funded absentee ballot drop box for every municipality or one drop box per 15,000 registered voters in larger municipalities;
- provide that only election officials may conduct post-election audits;
- require nine days of early in-person voting;
- allow publicly-disclosed charitable donations and in-kind contributions to fund elections; and
- require canvas boards to certify election results based only on the official records of votes cast.
Proposal 2 will join two other measures certified for the Michigan ballot in November. The measures certified for the Michigan ballot are:
- Proposal 1, which would change the term limits requirement for state legislators and financial disclosure requirements for state executive and legislative officials
- Proposal 2, which would make changes to voting policies, including dropboxes, photo ID or signed legal documents, early voting, and absentee voting
- Proposal 3, which would create a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom, defined to include abortion, contraceptives, and other matters related to pregnancy.
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