LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s attorney general said Wednesday that a Republican-enacted law making it harder to put proposals on the statewide ballot is unconstitutional, declaring that lawmakers had no authority to impose a geographic limit a circulating petitions. The law was enacted in December’s postelection “lame-duck” session, and followed an unprecedented manoeuvr by GOP lawmakers and then-Gov. The law imposes a geographic requirement on groups trying to gather hundreds of thousands of voter signatures to qualify for the ballot. Amber McCann, spokeswoman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, said it is no surprise that Nessel “disagrees with and disregards state law,” adding that he is confident in the law’s constitutionality. “Both the Michigan Constitution and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protect Michigan citizens’ right to amend our laws or state constitution through direct citizen petitions,” she said.

Source: National Post May 22, 2019 20:59 UTC