There are three proposals on the November 8 ballot, including measures to enshrine abortion rights, allow nine days of early voting, and reform term limits. Below is information on each one.
Proposal 1: This is the only measure in 2022 placed on the ballot by the Michigan Legislature, which seeks to require financial disclosures for elected state officials and amends Michigan’s constitutional provisions on term limits.
If Proposal 1 is adopted, the new financial disclosure requirements will apply to the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and state legislators. All impacted elected officials would be required to file annual reports describing their assets, sources of income, positions held outside of state government, agreements or arrangements regarding future employment, and gifts and travel payments received. These provisions will be the first requirements in Michigan law addressing transparency around lawmaker financial conflicts, and many would argue they are long overdue.
On term limits, Michigan lawmakers can currently serve three two-year terms (for a total of six years) in the state House of Representatives and two four-year terms (for a total of eight years) in the state Senate for a combined total of 14 years of legislative service. Proposal 1 will change the current provisions by reducing total allowed service from 14 years to 12 years. However, the Proposal’s language allows legislators to serve all 12 years in either chamber, or a combination of the two, as long as it doesn’t exceed 12 years.
For more information regarding Proposal 1, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan has provided an unbiased, detailed analysis.
Proposal 2: This enshrines multiple election provisions in Michigan’s Constitution, including allowing nine days of early voting, expanded access to absentee voting, and allowing same day voting without a state ID after signing an affidavit attesting to the individual’s identity.
Proposal 2 adds the following provisions to the Michigan Constitution:
- Allows nine days of early voting
- Requires state-funded postage for absentee applications and ballots
- Requires a state ID to vote, but allows voters without an ID to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity
- Allows public sources and charities to fund elections, subject to disclosure rules
- Allows voters to register for absentee ballots for all future elections
- Requires military and overseas ballots to be counted if postmarked by Election Day
- Requires ballot drop boxes for every 15,000 voters in a municipality
- Establishes that post-election audits can only be conducted by state and local officials
- Requires canvassing boards to only certify election results based on the official vote counts
For more information regarding Proposal 2, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan has provided an unbiased, detailed analysis.
Proposal 3: This adds an explicit, new right to “reproductive freedom” into the Michigan Constitution, including all pregnancy-related matters, and specifically invalidates the state’s 1931 abortion ban.
After the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, the right to abortion is now determined by state law. This proposal, sponsored by Reproductive Freedom for All, would guarantee that the fundamental right to reproductive freedom is protected by the Michigan Constitution. This would include all decisions related to abortion, as well as prenatal care, child birth, postnatal care, birth control, sterilization, miscarriage management, and infertility care. The legislature would still be able to pass laws regulating abortion after a pregnancy reaches 23-24 weeks, or typical viability, but would not be able to ban abortions deemed medically necessary for the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant person. Additionally, Proposal 3 would limit restrictions to only those “justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means,” as well as prohibit any penalization or prosecution based on real or perceived pregnancy outcomes, including abortion, miscarriages, and still births.
For more information regarding Proposal 3, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan has provided an unbiased, detailed analysis.
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