Affirmative Action Proposal Headed to Court
LANSING, Mich.
The fight over a proposed ballot initiative to end some affirmative action programs in Michigan is headed to court.
The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative said this week it filed a complaint with the Michigan Court of Appeals. The group wants the court to force the Board of State Canvassers to certify its petitions aimed at putting the proposed constitutional amendment on the November 2006 ballot.
The proposal, which would ban racial and gender preferences in government hiring and university admissions, was stalled last month when the canvassers couldn’t agree on what to do with the group’s petitions.
“We diligently followed the procedure set forth in Michigan law to get an issue on the ballot, and the Board of Canvassers should not be a roadblock to getting this or any other issue in front of Michigan voters,” Jennifer Gratz, executive director of the MCRI, said in a statement.
A spokeswoman with the state attorney general’s office declined comment pending review of the complaint.
