ICYMI: Ruth Johnson Slams Board of State Canvassers

Lansing, MI – Yesterday, former Michigan Secretary of State and current state Senator Ruth Johnson penned an op-ed in The Detroit News slamming the Democrat members of the Michigan Board of State Canvassers (BOC) for choosing partisan politics over voters. Last week, after the BOC deadlocked 2-2 along party lines, the Americans for Citizen Voting (ACV) ballot initiative was not approved for the November election, despite receiving more than 700,000 signatures from Michiganders.

Johnson starts the piece by calling out the insanity of the Democrat members' refusal to accept signed affidavits from voters:

“The initiative’s sample was left just three signatures short of certification for the ballot after Democrats on the board refused to count the signatures of nine Michigan voters whose identities had been verified by a notary public, and who signed affidavits under penalty of perjury that the signatures on the petitions in question were theirs.

I understand many may be skeptical of this claim, or feel there must be more to the story. As someone who served as Michigan's secretary of state and oversaw this process with integrity for eight years, quite frankly, part of me wishes that was true. But I can say unequivocally that what happened on Aug. 24 was not based on the law or on facts; it was based on politics, partisanship and the weaponization of what is supposed to be a ministerial board ― that ironically exists to prevent the very thing it carried out.”

She goes on to point out that approving the petition for the ballot should not be about whether you support it:

“While I support the proposed constitutional amendment and presumably Gurewitz and Cummings do not, this is not about the content of the ballot initiative. It is about equal protection, due process and following the laws and our state constitution.”

Johnson finishes the piece by making a direct appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, which may ultimately decide if the petition makes the ballot:“Aug. 24 was a very sad day for our state. Political motives laid themselves bare, stripping away the integrity of a board meant to be impartial.

The justices of our Supreme Court now have an opportunity to remedy this travesty. I hope that they will.”

You can read the whole piece here.