Law limiting petition signatures by congressional district largely unconstitutional, court rules - MLive.com

Efforts by Michigan’s legislature to limit ballot petition signatures by geography suffered a loss this week when a trio of judges agreed the law was more unconstitutional than not.

A Court of Appeals panel Friday struck down two of three parts to a ballot initiative law signed into law during the lame-duck session of former Gov. Rick Snyder. It’s the latest blow to lawmakers’ attempts to check citizen-led efforts after the successful passage of marijuana, redistricting and voting rights initiatives at the ballot box.

The Republican-led legislature in December 2018 passed sweeping changes to the ballot initiative process; new rules said no more than 15 percent of signatures can come from the same congressional district. The law additionally required petition circulators to file affidavits and indicate on forms whether they are paid or volunteers.

The Michigan Court of Appeals panel – comprised of judges Amy Ronayne Krause, Kirsten Frank Kelly and Thomas Cameron – ruled the geographic restriction on signature collection “an unnecessary and unreasonable restraint on the constitutional right of the people to initiate laws.”

That ruling upheld a prior decision by the Court of Claims.

The appellate panel reversed two decisions by the lower court, though.

First, the judges also said requiring only paid signature gatherers to file an affidavit prior to beginning to circulate was a “significant burden on the right of political speech protected by the First Amendment” and therefore unconstitutional.

However, the judges reversed the Court of Claims’ decision about the checkbox on forms to indicate whether signature gatherers are paid petition circulators.

The appellate judges ruled that ticking off a box passes constitutional muster because it applies to all circulators equally, and there was added value in knowing if extra scrutiny is warranted on petitions that will already be inspected by election officials.

All three appellate judges agreed without a dissenting opinion.

The Michigan House and Senate previously filed suit against state officials, challenging Attorney General Dana Nessel’s contention that the entire law is unconstitutional. The legal push to compel state officials to enforce the new law came after Nessel determined parts of Public Act 608 unconstitutional.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson requested Nessel’s opinion.

That sparked legal challenges from the House and Senate. Also, the League of Women Voters and three Michigan voters also filed suit to challenge the petition requirement as an unconstitutional “legislative amendment.”

Representatives the state’s GOP legislative leadership could not be reached Friday for comment. Officials for Benson declined to comment on the appellate decision, while the AG’s press secretary Lynsey Mukomel said Nessel is “pleased with the ruling.”

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source: https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/10/law-limiting-petition-signatures-by-congressional-district-largely-unconstitutional-court-rules.html

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