State canvassers finds Michigan’s ‘Money out of Politics’ effort has sufficient valid signatures

A staff report released late last week said that despite being pared down, the Michigan Bureau of Elections determined that the petition narrowly cleared the signature threshold, with 657 valid signatures found in a 1,000-signature sample after review and a challenge.

A second challenge was lodged to the canvassers ahead of Friday’s meeting to determine the sufficiency of Michiganders for Money Out Of Politics’ signatures by Protect MI Free Speech. Yet after a morning full of opening arguments from either side, and a line-by-line examination of signatures the opposition said were still faulty, the canvassers ultimately voted 3-1 to approve the signature threshold. Republican Paul Cordes was the lone no vote.

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Michiganders for Money Out of Politics, which aims to ban utility companies and government contractors from making campaign contributions. The initiative would create a new state law saying as much.

Christy McGillivray, co-chair for the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics Steering Committee, released a statement following the vote.

“Today’s vote is a momentous victory for Michiganders who are fed up with what has become the norm – corrupt, pay-to-play politics. After nearly a year of tireless organizing by volunteers and supporters, voters are one major step closer to making their voices heard at the ballot box to rein in out-of-control corrupt spending by big corporations and state-regulated utilities. Today is proof that a people-powered movement can stand up to some of the most powerful special interests in Michigan,” McGillivray said. “Now we must continue to mobilize across the state because our opposition, backed by billion-dollar corporations, is going to do anything they can to stop us from holding them accountable and changing the way our politics work in Lansing.”

Protect MI Free Speech spokesperson John Sellek said Friday’s lengthy meeting “exposed the sloppy and uncertain petition effort.”

“The BSC certification took place despite only nine petition signatures being the difference between certification or rejection — less than 1% more than the required amount. The microscopic margin is made even more concerning by the fact that the state’s sampling margin of error would cause MMOP to be BELOW the minimum number of validated signatures, yet was ignored,” Selleck said. “This process proved that MMOP is sloppy at best and deceptive at worst.”

If the board ends up approving the petition language, the canvassers-approved initiative would then head to the Michigan Legislature, which would then have 40 days to either accept the proposal language as written — in effect approving the new law — or reject it by voting it down. If the Legislature were to reject the measure or allow it to sit past 40 days, the language would automatically go to the next general election ballot for a statewide vote.

Michigan voters, in that case, would decide whether the state’s regulated utilities like Consumers Energy Company and DTE Energy Company can continue to make campaign contributions.