No nominations expected in Michigan’s fall elections
Abortion rights. Marijuana legalization. Voting by mail and early voting. Redistricting. Term limits. These are the issues Michigan voters debated in recent elections. But this fall, Michigan voters face the first election since 2016 in which there are no statewide ballots.
Citizens’ initiatives to change Michigan’s laws have failed this year, with campaigns either missing the deadline to submit voter signatures for a place on the ballot or facing legal setbacks.
The deadlines for submitting questions for the ballot via petition have passed. Here are some of the top questions that missed the mark.
Deadline for submission of proposal to abolish property tax missed
A campaign to abolish Michigan’s property tax has missed the deadline to file amendments to the state constitution. Karla Wagner, a Cannon Township resident who created “AxMITax,” called the campaign a way to reduce costs for Michigan’s budgets and rein in state spending. Municipal finance experts warned that the effort would devastate communities by making drastic cuts to public services funded by property taxes, such as libraries and schools.
Campaign to repeal clean energy legislation fails to gain traction
In Michigan, voters can initiate legislation that lawmakers can pass or send to the ballot. Although several campaigns to introduce voter initiatives have been underway this election cycle, none submitted signatures by the May deadline to be eligible for the November ballot. That includes a campaign that would have repealed a new Michigan law that gives state regulators the power to decide where to locate large wind and solar projects in an effort to achieve 100% clean energy by 2040, a goal Democrats passed last year.
Proposal for minimum wage not put to vote
Another campaign to introduce a voter-initiated bill to raise the minimum wage in Michigan has been blocked by the courts. The state Board of Elections could not agree on whether to certify the proposal, and the Michigan Supreme Court denied the campaign’s request to ask the board to approve it. But the court could still decide the fate of Michigan’s minimum wage law as it considers a separate lawsuit alleging that the Michigan Legislature acted unconstitutionally when it passed a minimum wage proposal and then amended it in the same session to delay the proposed wage increase and maintain a tipped minimum wage.
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Referendum on gun safety law ends circulation
Voters will also not have a chance to vote on new laws in Michigan. A campaign to repeal Michigan’s new “red flag” gun law has stopped circulating its petition, the Michigan Bureau of Elections said. The new law allows a judge to temporarily ban a person who poses an imminent danger to themselves or others from owning firearms.
In theory, MPs still have time to propose constitutional changes and referendums for a vote in November, but they have shown no signs of planning to do so.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @clarajanehen.
Want to learn more about Michigan’s elections this year? Check out our Voter Handbooksubscribe to our Elections Newsletter and feel free to share your thoughts with us at any time in a Letter to the editor.
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