Michigan: Petition drive to repeal the Governor’s emergency powers hits another snag with shady signature collection company

Why is The DD Newsblog covering and taking sides on an issue so closely tied to partisan politics? I usually veer away from that in my blog, but sometimes there is no way to avoid the fact that party politics endanger people with disabilities and their families. I have two sons who live in a group home where all six residents are especially vulnerable to contracting Covid-19 and to its most dire effects, including adverse long-term health effects and death. My son Danny had aspiration pneumonia five times in 2017. He survived, but throw in a virus that amplifies heart and lung conditions and I'm not sure that he could survive that. As far as I am concerned, there is no messing around with party politics that threaten to increase the spread of the virus to the general public and to the people who work with my sons, who could then bring it into their group home. JRB

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According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, “In secret recording, trainer for Unlock Michigan advises on unlawful tactics” by Paul Egan, 9/22/2020,

“A company collecting signatures to strip Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of her emergency powers coached paid petition circulators on giving voters false information, illegally collecting signatures without witnessing them, trespassing on private property, and even lying under oath, a secretly recorded videotape shows"

...“The profanity-peppered training session provides an inside look at the world of paid signature gatherers and could potentially pose problems for Unlock Michigan's attempts to certify the close to 500,000 signatures the group hopes to collect. It is the second example of irregularities in the Unlock Michigan signature collection process the Free Press has highlighted.”

Unlock Michigan is collecting signatures to repeal the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945, which Governor Whitmer is using to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Unlock Michigan is spearheading a petition drive that would allow the Michigan legislature to repeal the 1945 law without the threat of a veto from the governor.

Unlock Michigan, rather than being a grassroots organization, has ties to the Republican Party. Another group hired by Unlock Michigan to collect signatures [see The DD Newsblog, “Petitions: Read before you sign…”, 9/3/2020] was also found to employ shady tactics. According to the Detroit News, Unlock Michigan is “…primarily being funded by a nonprofit that doesn't have to disclose its donors."...“Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, a Lansing-based organization with ties to Senate Republicans, gave $660,200 to Unlock Michigan from June 9 through July 20, according to a new campaign finance report.”

Read and think when you are asked to sign a petition and make sure you understand what you are signing.