Activists pushing anti-fracking ballot initiatives in Michigan are being held up by state lawmakers. (Photo: Daniel Foster / Flickr; Edited: JR / TO)
Activists in Michigan have been working on a statewide ballot initiative to ban fracking since 2012. It could be the first fracking law to appear on a state ballot in the United States. After failing to collect sufficient signatures in 2012 and 2013, and sitting 2014 out, the grassroots campaign again came up short of qualifying for the 2015 ballot. However, this time they responded by announcing they would continue collecting signatures — to get on the 2016 ballot.
“It is not easy getting a grassroots initiative on the ballot. I think that’s why our opponents are so scared of us.”
As it turns out, a 1986 Michigan Supreme Court decision allows petitioners proposing statute-based initiatives (not constitutional amendments) to use signatures over 180 days old — but not older than four years — so long as the campaign is able to reverify the older signatures.
No campaign has ever attempted this, as the process of reverifying the signatures with local election clerks has been prohibitively cumbersome.
But new technology is making it easier. The idea came from a group collecting signatures to legalize and tax recreational marijuana, which also fell short of qualifying for the 2015 ballot. The idea: to cross-reference the older signatures with the state’s new digitized Qualified Voter File database. As the database is maintained by local clerks, the petitioners argue cross-referencing the signatures with the Qualified Voter File is equivalent to consulting the clerks.
Opposition to the Use of Signatures Over 180 Days Old
At first this technology seemed to offer a modern-day solution to expedite direct democracy, but a backlash to the innovation is quickly accelerating.
The state Board of Canvassers, a body appointed by the legislature and governor, has argued that the new mode of verification should not be allowed, and on…