(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/21/23) The wording on the recall petition against Rep. Sharon MacDonell (D-Troy) was ruled Monday by the State Board of Canvassers to be clear enough to begin circulation efforts. It was the only legislative petition out of six proposals to move forward at this morning's meeting. Attorney Mark Brewer promised an appeal.
Board members voted unanimously that the language submitted by Michael Ross against MacDonell was clear. It read "On April 13, 2023, State Representative Sharon MacDonell voted 'yes' on Michigan House Bill 4145 creating the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, i.e. 'Red Flag' Law."
"I am proud of my vote on the bill. It's my job to protect the people in my district and the state of Michigan and to do whatever I can to try to prevent them from being injured in any way, including gun violence," MacDonell said.
She said HB 4145 was a way to temporarily remove weapons from a home where someone may be experiencing mental health issues, "to prevent horrible crimes from happening."
"I'm sure there are many, many, many cases in the past where people have been murdered, where they may have been able to prevent murders and injuries and people ending up in prison for something they did when they were really not themselves," MacDonell said.
She said she was doing a tour of the Pipefitters Industry Training Center in Troy during the meeting and had not talked with anyone from the Democratic Caucus at the time of her interview with MIRS, but had heard there was the possibility of an appeal from Brewer.
"I know there are still going to be a few hurdles before it even gets to the point of being completely approved, but I think it's going to be a pretty hard climb to get over 10,000 signatures for someone who hasn't done anything wrong and who voted the way my constituents want you to vote," she said.
She said the recall petition was a distraction to eat up her time and resources.
Another petition against Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) had the exact same wording, except the word "Act" was missing, making it read as if Coffia voted to create an "order" as opposed to an "act." That petition was rejected due to the confusion.
Four other petitions – those against Reps. Jennifer Conlin (D-Ann Arbor), Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield), Kelly BREEN (D-Novi) and Denise Mentzer (D-Mount Clemens) – were also rejected. All four had petition language that read "On June 23, 2023, State Representative (insert name) voted yes on Michigan House Bill 4474, which would amend provisions of the Michigan Penal Code that now define and prohibit the crime of ethnic intimidation."
Two of the canvassers, Richard Houskamp, a Republican member, and Chair Mary Ellen GUREWITZ, a Democratic member, ruled the language reads as if the law was being amended, but it didn't read how the existing law was being changed.
Republican Tony Daunt voted to allow all of the petitions to go forward with circulation, with the exception of the petition against Coffia, which Daunt agreed was not clear.
Democratic member Jeannette Bradshaw was absent.
Along with the petition language not being accurate, Brewer told the board that there was a bigger organization behind the petitions, but they had not attached a disclaimer to the bottom of the petition to identify themselves.
Brewer presented several pieces of evidence to the board that there was a larger group behind the recalls. He showed a flyer to recall Rep. Arbit paid for by the Florida Igloo PAC and an email from the Lakes Area Tea Party regarding a meeting to recall Arbit. He also showed them an email about organizing to recall Rep. Breen.
"We believe there is a coordinated statewide effort so the disclaimer of a committee should be on all of these petitions and the ones on Aug. 1," Brewer said.
He said the people working together should have formed a committee in order to file with the Secretary of State and report their finances.
"We will be filing a campaign finance complaint against all of the sponsors, the sponsors of the petitions on Aug. 1, as well as the sponsors today," he said.
Gurewitz said they had no control over possible campaign finance violations and they just approved the form.
Brewer also stated that the petitions were handwritten. On Aug. 1, he made the same arguments against several other petition recall submissions.
Daunt said he would be in favor of the Legislature providing clarity on whether the disclaimer was something that was required on the form for recall petitions.
"The clearer you make the language in statute the less wiggle room there is for interpretations, both in the application and then how people read it when they're trying to undertake a recall," he said.
He said there are already many laws dealing with campaign finance and the disclaimers required.
"Any additional clarity we can get is helpful, but I'm not holding my breath," Daunt said.
