The Board of State Canvassers must certify a voter initiative to repeal the Emergency Powers of Governor Act, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in a Friday order.
That means that once the board acts on the court’s order, the Republican-controlled Legislature can repeal the law with majority votes in each chamber, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will be unable to veto the measure.
The order gave no breakdown on what position each justice took on the question, but there was no dissent accompanying the order, suggesting the decision was unanimous…
Whitmer used the 1945 law extensively to issue emergency orders related to the coronavirus pandemic until Oct. 2, when the Michigan Supreme Court struck down the law as an unconstitutional ceding of legislative power to the executive branch of government.
Although the law is no longer in effect, Democrats want to keep it on the books, apparently in the hope that the Michigan Supreme Court might reverse the October decision. The makeup of the court has shifted since then, from a 4-3 majority for Republican nominees to a 4-3 majority for Democratic nominees.
“The court has it exactly right — the Board of State Canvassers had a clear legal duty to certify what was obvious, that we had collected far more signatures than required,” Unlock Michigan spokesman Fred Wszolek said. Unlock Michigan was the group the sponsored the petition drive.
“We urge the Michigan House and Senate to act promptly to finally strike this awful law from the books forever,” he said.
Democrats are not happy about the decision of the court.
“The Michigan Supreme Court has opened the floodgates for illegal conduct including forgeries, leaving petitions unattended, circulators lying about their activities, and more if this decision stands,” Keep Michigan Safe attorney Mark Brewer said.
“Rather than allowing the board to investigate and holding petition gathering efforts accountable, this decision will unleash rampant illegalities and criminal misconduct in future ballot initiatives and embolden even more brazen illegal actions in the years ahead,” he said.
But Wszolek argued that Whitmer used the 1945 law “recklessly to crush businesses, families and lives,” and “no governor should be able to do so ever again.”
Judges Kathleen Jansen and Michael Gadola of the Michigan Court of Appeals decided that the Board of State Canvassers “correctly” approved the six recall petitions against Whitmer and one against Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, The Washington Examiner reported.
The governor argued these cases did not “adequately describe the authorities cited as reasons for the recall,” and the governor plans to appeal the decision campaign spokesperson Mark Fisk said.
“We plan to appeal this disappointing decision, and we fully intend to beat back these irresponsible partisan attacks against the governor in the courts, on the streets, or at the ballot. This is part of a massive and coordinated attack by Republicans trying to make the governor fail, and our campaign will strenuously oppose these efforts so the governor can keep saving lives, reopening our economy and creating jobs,” he said.
This is an excerpt from Conservative Brief.
