A ballot campaign to create ranked choice voting in Michigan could start collecting signatures within the coming months. That's after clearing a step at a state elections board Friday.
The Board of State Canvassers approved summary language to go on top of the petition and certified that the petition form itself was ready to go before voters.
The step is supposed to protect the measure from future lawsuits that could otherwise claim it was unclear.
Pat Zabawa is with the Rank MI Vote constitutional amendment campaign. He said a ranked choice system would empower voters.
“Ranked choice voting allows voters to vote their hopes and not their fears. It allows them to vote their conscience through numerically, through ranking their candidates. So, they can vote for a candidate without having to worry about the viability of their candidate,” Zabawa told reporters after more than four hours of discussion around the proposal.
Zabawa used New York City’s recent mayoral primary elections as an example of ranked choice voting going well.
Opponents of the measure say it would mark a major shift for Michigan elections.
During discussion, several concerns arose. They included what ranked choice voting would mean for straight ticket voting, what would happen to votes for a candidate who performed poorly, and the process of getting election results out.
A ballot proposal to undo a state minimum wage law passed in February also went before the state canvassers board Friday for summary and petition form approval.
Despite receiving approval, organizers behind the One Fair Wage referendum campaign were unhappy with the result after being given significantly less time than the ranked choice measure to discuss what an accurate 100-word summary would mean.
The campaign wants to restore a policy for an overall higher minimum wage that would’ve gone into effect if the February law never passed.
The policy that got replaced would have brought the minimum wage to a little under $15 an hour by 2028. Employers would have had to pay tipped workers their entire minimum wage by 2030, instead of letting tips make up the difference for a special, lower wage.
The current law sped up the timeline for getting Michiganders to a $15 an hour wage, but it also capped what tipped workers would eventually make at half of what most others made.
Sarah Rose is with One Fair Wage. She said she didn’t like how the board-approved summary categorized the referendum as decreasing the minimum wage for the next couple of years. She said she worried how it could impact the signature collection effort.
“I think it does have an impact, but you know we’re also very good communicators, we have great volunteers, we have great canvassers out there. So, I think that we’re going to be able to answer those questions and potentially have those really meaningful conversations that will hopefully lessen some of the impact of the summary with the decrease in there,” Rose said.
Rose said her group still needs to decide whether it will go forward with the board-approved summary or try to come back later, on a day when the board is facing less of a time crunch.
The February minimum wage law would be halted and the first policy would take effect pending an election if the referendum qualifies for the ballot.
Opponents to the referendum say blocking the current law would be devastating for businesses and the service industry. They say it would drive up operating costs and prices on menus, leading to fewer people eating out and restaurants closing.
That logic is why lawmakers scrambled earlier this year to change the law rather than let a Supreme Court ruling allowing the One Fair Wage policy to take effect.
A third ballot measure considered at Friday’s meeting would have Michiganders making half a million dollars a year paying more taxes under a proposed constitutional amendment.
The proposal would charge an extra five percent tax on income above that $500,000 threshold, or $1 million for joint filers.
Jessica Newman, with Invest in MI Kids, said that would send extra revenue toward schools.
“We’re going to lower classroom sizes. We know that our kids learn better in smaller classrooms. We’re going to make sure our facilities are up to date and making sure that we have kids learning in the best learning environment in the country because we are investing in our future,” Newman said.
She said signature collection would come as soon as possible. The board ran out of time at its meeting before it could approve the petition’s form itself.
Opponents of the effort say it would create a graduated income tax in Michigan, something that’s banned in the state Constitution. The ballot proposal would leave that ban in place.
Opponents also accuse the campaign of being deceptive about what the money would do for schools.
