Breaking down the November ballot proposals

Petition gatherers for ballot proposals to amend the state constitution have until Monday to turn in enough valid signatures to make it onto the November ballot.

In this episode:

• What the measures call for
• Analysis on impact on other races
• Outlook for getting on the ballot

The campaigns for ballot proposals to enshrine a right to an abortion in the state constitution, Reproductive Freedom for All, and expand voter access, Promote the Vote, are confident they’ll have enough signatures to turn in, says Craig Mauger, reporter at The Detroit News. It takes 425,000 to get on the ballot and from what Mauger hears, there’s potentially more than 800,000 signatures for the abortion measure, with the voting rights proposal possibly turning in a similar amount of votes.

The campaigns have had a lot of momentum during a campaign season that saw several Republican gubernatorial candidates get booted off for fraudulent gatherers.

The abortion proposal also saw a huge boost in volunteers and interest after the Supreme Court’s draft opinion to overturn Roe V. Wade leaked and then when the justices officially reversed the landmark 1973 ruling last month.

“From every indication that we are able to look at right now, it appears that this is going to be on the ballot,” Mauger says. “And it appears that at the start, at least this has a large amount of public support in favor of it.”

“A significant change”

The voting rights proposal is a constitutional amendment that would “recognize a fundamental right to vote,” according to the petition language. It essentially “does the opposite of what the Republicans have been pushing [for],” says Mauger. “This proposal says, essentially, what we’re doing currently with IDs in that you can fill out an affidavit if you don’t have your ID with you and still vote normally, that will be put into the constitution, which will make it almost impossible for Republicans to change it going forward.”

Another key aspect of the proposal is that it would institute nine days of early voting, Mauger says. Right now voters can submit absentee ballots anytime before an election. The proposal would allow voters to show up and cast their ballots without an absentee ballot.

“That would be a significant change to how voting operates across the state,” Mauger says.

There is also another constitutional amendment that was advanced by the Legislature. It would change term limits and require financial disclosure from lawmakers.

“From the pollsters that I’ve talked to, they also expect that to pass right now unless there’s some major opposition campaign to come out against it,” Mauger says.

More from MichMash:

• What’s next for GOP gubernatorial candidates kicked off ballot?
• The 10 Republicans running for Michigan governor
• Clerks plead for help from state leaders