LANSING, Mich. — Senate Democrats today responded to the prevalent reports of petition circulators using shady tactics to promote their cause by introducing a package of bills to ensure voters are not deceived into signing onto ballot proposals they otherwise would not support.
“Ballot proposals are critical for citizens to have a say in how our democracy operates, but the process is sullied when bad actors use deception as a tool to obtain signatures,” Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), who led the legislative package, said. “Petition gatherers should not be lying to the public to promote their cause.”
This bill package follows Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel responding to an increase in complaints of deceptive petition circulation, including people who were told by circulators that the petition was about one topic while the actual printed content was completely different from what was described.
“No Michigan citizen should be lied to or misled when asked to support policies that will impact them and their families,” said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “These bills would bring needed reforms to protect voters and our democracy by making clearly unethical acts illegal. I am grateful to the legislators for introducing this package of bills.”
The five-bill package includes:
- Senate Bill 1209, sponsored by Sen. Moss, to hold a ballot organization liable if an employed petition circulator or volunteer intentionally makes a false statement or misrepresentation concerning the contents, purpose or effect of a petition;
- Senate Bill 1210, sponsored by Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), to authorizes a voter who has signed an initiative, referendum or recall petition to remove their name from the petition by filing a written request to do so with the appropriate county elections official up until the day the petition is filed;
- Senate Bill 1211, sponsored by Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. (D-Lansing), to prohibit a group to pay or hire someone as a signature gatherer based on certain conditions, such as those convicted of crimes related to elections, signature petitions, fraud and forgery;
- Senate Bill 1212, introduced by Sen. Adam Hollier (D-Detroit), would prohibit paying petition circulators by the signature;
- Senate Bill 1213, introduced by Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), to reform current law so that if a voter signs a petition more than once, only the first signature is counted rather than disqualifying all the elector’s signatures. This bill also removes the warning section of a petition stating that knowingly signing a petition more than once is a violation of Michigan election law.
In September, Attorney General Nessel launched an investigation into allegations that the Unlock Michigan campaign engaged in criminal activity during petition gathering, including coaching circulators to knowingly give false information to voters about the proposal.
Elements of this legislation passed in the House nearly unanimously last session with overwhelming bipartisan support but were not taken up by the Senate.
“We cannot allow petition circulations to be circumvented by those who seek to undermine confidence in our electoral processes,” Sen. Hertel said. “We must hold individuals and organizations accountable when they misrepresent the issues they are pushing. This legislative package aims to do just that.”
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