Ballot Question Committee Asks Supreme Court To Reverse MMOP Certification

Article courtesy of MIRS for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter

A ballot question committee has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to reverse approval of the Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) initiative, arguing it lacks the required signatures.

The Board of State Canvassers (BSC) approved MMOP’s petition signatures on July 24, finding the group had 645 valid signatures in a 1,000-signature sample, but Protect MI Free Speech (PMFS) filed a suit alleging the BSC’s math doesn’t add up because the initiative needed 661 – not 636 – valid signatures.

“The BSC committed an astonishing error by brazenly ignoring the formula they established,” said PMFS spokesperson John Sellek, of public relations firm Harbor Strategic. “The petition failed to meet the threshold required under its own methodology. It’s sloppy math and a failure to follow its own standards.

“The Michigan Supreme Court must correct this error to prevent an improperly certified proposal from appearing on the ballot,” he said.

Christy MacGillivray, co-chair of MMOP’s steering committee, said the legal challenge is no surprise, but the BSC has already dismissed “the opposition’s baseless claims” and they are “fully confident” the MSC will do the same.

“We won’t allow those defending massive, billion-dollar corporations to undermine the voices of more than half a million Michigan voters who signed our petition to rein in pay-to-play politics in Lansing,” she said. “… We have said it before, it’s the opposition’s easiest and cheapest path to trying to stop this initiative before facing Michigan voters at the ballot box, where we know this people-powered initiative has overwhelming support.”

PMFS, as well as plaintiff James Holcomb, a voter who opposes the MMOP petition, has asked the court to order the decertification of the petition initiative by Aug. 20.

The initiative would prohibit regulated electric and gas utilities and contractors with more than $250,000 annually in government contracts, like Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, from making direct or indirect campaign contributions to those who run for or hold office that affect them.

It would also expand disclosure requirements, including those for disclosing donor information, to apply to communications clearly identifying candidates or ballot questions.

PMFS filed its complaint Tuesday, alleging the BSC approved 12 signatures that improperly included street addresses that do not exist, which would drop MMOP below the currently stated certification threshold of 636 signatures.

The complaint also alleges the BSC’s standard requires at least a “90% confidence” level that the petition actually contains the correct number of valid signatures. However, the bureau’s July 17 election staff report found that based on the 561,282 signatures submitted, and the 356,958 valid signatures needed, the “sponsor needed to attain a signature validity rate of at least 63.6% for staff to recommend certification of the petition (i.e., 636/1,000).’”

MMOP, who is not a named defendant, filed a motion to intervene in the case.

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