Michigan Affirmative Action Ban Proposal Appears Headed for Court
LANSING, Mich.
A state elections board on July 19 failed to either approve or reject petition signatures for a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban some affirmative action programs in Michigan.
Supporters say they will now go to court to try to get the measure on the November 2006 ballot.
During an emotionally charged meeting, the four-member Board of State Canvassers could not agree on how to handle signatures gathered by the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. MCRI leaders say they’ll ask courts to certify the signatures, a key step toward getting on the ballot. The MCRI proposal would prohibit the use of race and gender preferences in university admissions and government hiring.
“The thing we always knew would happen comes next … we go to court,” says state Rep. Leon Drolet, R-Clinton Township, who supports the measure. “We are going to get on the ballot.”
Most of the debate at the six-hour meeting centered on whether there should be an investigation into MCRI’s signature-gathering techniques. Opponents say an undetermined number of signatures were gathered through misrepresentation, with many Black people tricked into signing a petition they thought would protect affirmative action and civil rights.
“It’s clear people were fooled and lied to when they signed this petition,” says David Waymire, spokesman for One United Michigan, which opposes the ballot measure.
MCRI leaders deny those charges.
