The campaign to challenge Michigan’s local emergency manager law has filed petitions seeking to put the question on the ballot.
Opponents say the state takeover law is an affront to voters’ rights to choose their local elected officials.
People sang and chanted as they marched to the Michigan Bureau of Elections with 49 boxes of petitions to put Public Act 4 – Michigan’s emergency manager law – to a referendum.
Elections officials have 60 days to determine if the campaign collected enough signatures. If so, the law is suspended until the vote in November.
Brandon Jessup says he hopes the Legislature won’t do anything to extend the managers’ emergency powers during that period.
“We want to encourage our Legislature to respect our petitions that we just filed to the tune of 226,637 voters that said Public Act 4 deserves to be put on the ballot in November,” Jessup says.
But Republican leaders say they think that might be necessary to ensure stability in financially distressed communities that have been taken over by state-appointed managers.