As Promote the Vote continues its campaign for Proposal 2, unsettling revelations indicate the ballot language may enable criminals currently serving time to be able to vote. Shane Trejo, chairman of the 11th Congressional District Republican Committee, recently expressed his concern about the proposal, warning that it would make it easier for criminals to vote and harder for the voices of law-abiding Michigan citizens to be heard.
Proposal 2 could give more than 33,000 prison inmates statewide the ability to vote, according to data from World Population Review.
Trejo said, “Proposal 2 could make it harder for Michiganders to make their voices heard, and easier for criminals to determine the direction of our state.”
The proposal could also permit more Michigan prisoners to vote than the total amount of voters who decided the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump received 2,279,543 votes while Hillary Clinton had 2,268,839 votes, a difference of 10,704 votes, according to 270towin.com.
Article 2, Section 2 of the Michigan Constitution, which concerns the election process with regards to those who are mentally incompetent or imprisoned, states that “the legislature may by law exclude persons from voting because of mental incompetence or commitment to a jail or penal institution.”
Article 2, Section 4(a) of the Michigan Constitution, which concerns the place and manner of elections, currently states: Every citizen of the United States who is an elector qualified to vote in Michigan shall have the following rights: (a) The right, once registered, to vote a secret ballot in all elections.
The Promote My Vote Petition would amend Article 2, Section 4(a) to state, in pertinent part: (1) Every citizen of the United States who is an elector qualified to vote in Michigan shall have the following rights: “(a) THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO VOTE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO the right, once registered, to vote a secret ballot in all elections. NO PERSON SHALL: (1) ENACT OR USE ANY LAW, RULE, REGULATION, QUALIFICATION, PREREQUISITE, STANDARD, PRACTICE, OR PROCEDURE; (2) ENGAGE IN ANY HARASSING, THREATENING, OR INTIMIDATING CONDUCT; OR (3) USE ANY MEANS WHATSOEVER, ANY OF WHICH HAS THE INTENT OR EFFECT OF DENYING, ABRIDGING, INTERFERING WITH, OR UNREASONABLY BURDENING THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO VOTE.”
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Brian Zahra argues the language of Proposal 2 does not abrogate the current language in the Michigan Constitution. He states, “Article 2, Section 1 expressly acknowledges that who is qualified to be an elector in Michigan can be limited by other provisions of the Constitution, and Article 2, Section 2 expressly grants the Legislature permissive authority to enact statutes imposing such limitations as to mentally incompetent or incarcerated individuals.”
