Dems on top MI court block GOP 'game of gotcha' attempt to remove abortion measure from Nov. ballot

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David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
September 09, 2022

Like many state courts, judges on the Michigan State Supreme Court are elected. In 2018 and 2020 Democrats were able to win more seats on the state's highest court, giving them a 4-3 majority.

On Thursday those efforts paid off.

Democratic Supreme Court justices blocked efforts by Republicans to remove two important measures from the November ballot: abortion and voting rights after Republicans tried to turn a technicality into the disenfranchisement of more than 750,000 Michiganders who signed petitions to get abortion on the ballot.

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Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack called GOP efforts to derail the abortion measure from getting on the ballot "a game of gotcha gone very bad."

"Seven hundred fifty three thousand and seven hundred fifty nine Michiganders signed this proposal-more than have ever signed any proposal in Michigan's history," the Chief Justice wrote. "The challengers have not produced a single signer who claims to have been confused by the limited-spacing sections in the full text portion of the proposal. Yet two members of the Board of State Canvassers would prevent the people of Michigan from voting on the proposal because they believe that the decreased spacing makes the text no longer '[t]he full text,'" she charged, as University of Michigan law professor of Law Leah Litman noted.

"That is, even though there is no dispute that every word appears and appears legibly and in the correct order, and there is no evidence that anyone was confused about the text, two members of the Board of State Canvassers with the power to do so would keep the petition from the voters for what they purport to be a technical violation of the statute. They would disenfranchise millions of Michiganders not because they believe the many thousands of Michiganders who signed the proposal were confused by it, but because they think they have identified a technicality that allows them to do so, a game of gotcha gone very bad."

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Full article

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VOTING MATTERS. If we hadn't flipped the MI Supreme Court to blue in 2020, this prop -- and the expanded voting rights prop -- would've been dead in the water.

[Johnny2X2X]

1. It was a 5-2 vote

So one Republican joined them. Several articles I've read about it failed to mention that and instead implied it was a 4-3 vote by stating it's a 4-3 court. If it had been a 4-3 Republican court, it would have still went the same way. This wasn't a partisan vote.

And that link is to a different article.

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2. Sorry, I fixed the link.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. I'm here in Michigan too

And I don't think the effect of these measures being on the ballot can be overstated. Abortion is the issue up and down the ticket this November. Our governor is running against a far right extremists who has promised to ban all abortion with no exceptions for the health of the mother, rape, or incest. The GOP put up a slate of candidates in our state who are so extreme they are hard to describe. People are absolutely fired up about this issue, even in rural Michigan. You're going to see a sweep of the state wide races, flipping of House seats, and an all out blowout of extremist Republicans all across the state.

There will be surprises, this being on the ballot could mean 10 points for every Dem up and down the ticket. You're going to see some rural incumbent Republicans who barely thought they had to campaign lose.

[Zambero]

4. Time to clean house in Michigan and elsewhere

The GOP is unwittingly making this task much easier. Hopefully, this backlash will transfer to state legislative races

[Buckeyeblue]

5. I'm in southwest MI. I think we have an opportunity to do some big things in MI

The Republicans have controlled the state legislature forever and have really held the state back. We should have businesses flocking to our state. We have 4 seasons. Summer is beautiful. We have plenty of water. We do have winter. But if you dress right you can still enjoy the outdoors.

[Johnny2X2X]

7. The State Senate is most likely to flip

But the State House might be in play now too. And the state wide offices are already all held by Dems. Whitmer, Benson, and Nessel are going to each win reelection in a landslide.

We already passed expanded voting a couple cycles ago. Same day registration and absentee ballots on demand are already law. The new voting rights ballot initiative expands early voting and provides other provisions to make it easier to vote. Michigan is staying blue indefinitely as long as voting is easy.

And businesses are already flocking to Michigan, the state ranked 1st in it's economic recovery from the Covid recession. Unemployment is low. Wages are growing faster than the national average. The budget is in great shape. Whitmer is fixing the roads. This is the beginning of a great era for Michigan.

[Buckeyeblue]

9. Whitmer has done a great job in very tough times

I think she will have a bright future in national politics.

[Johnny2X2X]

10. She's been amazing!

I have lunch at work with a couple total far right wing people, we never discuss politics. Several months ago 2 of them were talking about the Covid restrictions and their kids, they both remarked matter of fact like, "We get her out in November right?", "Yeah, she'll be out in November." I LOLed inside, even back then before Roe was overturned she was a massive favorite to win reelection. She's always been popular here and the GOP nominated a total extremist loon.

They're delusional. Whitmer's actions on Covid were praised and helped her.

[Novara]

6. I am also a Michigander

Governor Whitmer's ads against her extreme opponent are ubiquitous. She is hammering her hard on the "no exceptions" bullshit.

This decision gave a whole lot of Dems a better reason to get to the polls.

Elections MATTER.

LOCAL elections MATTER.

We have women in the top spots in our government here in Michigan and shit is getting DONE.

[Johnny2X2X]

8. Her ads were well timed and hit the mark

Before her opponent even had the time to run ads, Whitmer made it absolutely clear what was at stake. Nothing her opponent can do or say can change that now, abortion is on the ballot not just with the ballot proposal, but at the top of the ticket and all up and down the ballot.

I don't care if it's an election for town street sweeper, if voters see a R next to a candidate's name, they're going to see an anti women extremist fringe street sweeper who they cannot vote for. There are no moderate Republicans as far as I'm concerned. They are all far outside of mainstream America, they are extremists who would turn women into the property of men, and who would end our Democracy if given a chance.

[Novara]

15. Right. Joe Biden made that clear.

And I'm awfully glad he did. People are more aware of what exactly is on the ballot this fall.

[Johnny2X2X]

16. That speech was a turning point

Joe showed the way, these people are extremists, they are un-American in their beliefs. Joe has put that message in everyone's minds and the candidates are running with it.

[Novara]

18. It really was a turning point

I lament that it took him this long to get here, but it's right in time for the midterms, so maybe I should shut up.

His words matter.

[Johnny2X2X]

19. The GOP reaction to it

When the GOP totally lost their minds about it, I knew it was going to be absolutely devastating to them.

It co-ops the Con strategy for the Fall, they were going to paint Dems as extremists who are soft on crime and woke. Biden's speech, along with Trump's crimes, 1/6, and Roe, basically shows the whole country the GOP are the radicals.

[Johnny2X2X]

11. Something to keep an eye on, 538

This being on the ballot is a massive deal for Michigan. If 538 doesn't move the chances for the Dems in the races here, it means they simply aren't factoring in Roe at all, probably because they have no idea how to do it. This could be a totally wild polling miss in November, not because of bias, but just because pollsters have no idea how to consume the new data.

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12. I'm in MI-07 and it's still a toss-up according to the polls. Slotkin needs to push Barrett hard

about his stand on abortion -- just scrubbing his website of any trace of his no-exceptions stance isn't going to cut it. He's pretending that the issue doesn't exist where in reality, the right to choose has been coming up as the #1 issue among voters, with the economy #3. I'm worried though because there are a lot of MAGAts in the Detroit suburbs.

[Johnny2X2X]

17. Slotkin is up by 3 points in MI-07

And 538 has her as a 2-1 favorite to win, and that's without Roe or the ballot initiative being figured into the math.

[Emile]

13. Republicans in Indiana will not allow any measures

on the ballot. Thus the reason why cannabis is still illegal. They don't care what the people want and they care even less about democracy.

[live love laugh]

14. The RW Misleadya has gone silent on abortion.

So this is great.