Lansing — The Michigan Supreme Court avoided weighing in Tuesday on the constitutionality of hurdles imposed in 2018 by the GOP-controlled Legislature for petition efforts to initiate ballot proposals.
In a 4-3 decision, the state's high court ruled that one group's suit disputing the requirements was moot because the campaign had ended its petition effort and that the House and Senate lacked standing to challenge an opinion by Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel that deemed their policy unconstitutional.
The law in question says a statewide petition campaign may not get more than 15% of its signatures from one of the 14 congressional districts. Petitions must include check boxes indicating whether a gatherer is paid or not.