Michigan Board of Canvassers Denies Place on Ballot for Proposed Election, Abortion Amendments

Two citizen-initiated petition drives to amend the Michigan Constitution failed to secure a place on the November general election ballot due to textual deficiencies.

The decisions were made by the Board of State Canvassers (BSC) at an Aug. 31 meeting.

One petition sought to create constitutional mandates for election practices that the Republican-controlled state legislature has tried repeatedly to overhaul or ban—such as the use of absentee ballot drop boxes and the funding of elections by private groups. The other petition would make abortion a constitutional right in Michigan.

Both petition drives obtained more than the requisite number of valid signatures to appear on the ballot, and advocates for each proposal vowed to appeal the BSC decisions to the Michigan Supreme Court.

Republicans on the BSC contended that the language of the election proposal failed to inform petition signers of all the sections of the state constitution that would be affected by the petition’s language as required.

The proposal, called Promote the Vote, is backed by left-wing political action committees and opposed by conservative groups. Critics fear it would also open the way for convicted felons and jail inmates to vote.

“We are confident that the courts will remedy this needless and unjustified attempt to block our proposal.” Khalilah Spencer, president of Promote the Vote 2022, the organization that created the proposed constitutional amendment, said in an Aug. 31 statement.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is seen at Beech Woods Recreation Center in Southfield, Mich., on Oct. 16, 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Kristina Karamo, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, criticized the proposition,  calling it a disarmingly written petition that is being used as a cynical ruse to deceive voters into thinking they were voting for more secure elections when in reality, she says, the opposite is true.

“The canvassers got it right in

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