MCRI Slowly Grinds Toward Certification

Here is a report from Jennifer Gratz, director of the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, of the latest developments in MCRI’s Kafka-esque (perhaps Sisiphian?) task of forcing the Michigan Board of Canvassers to follow court orders and certify MCRI for the November 2006 ballot. Jennifer, her staff, friends, and supporters are to be commended for their perseverance, and her Democratic opponents should forever be shamed by their alliance with the likes of BAMN.

I wanted to write and give all of you and update on where we’re at with the board of canvassers and the certification process.

As all of you know, on October 31st the Court of Appeals ordered the Board of Canvassers (BofC) to certify MCRI for the November, 2006 ballot. After that ruling, the BofC scheduled a meeting for November 22nd. A few days before the meeting, the meeting was canceled due to a lack of a quorum (the 2 Democrats, the members that voted against certification in July, all of a sudden could not attend). The meeting was rescheduled for December 7th.

In the meantime, our opposition (BAMN and “In the Hood Research”) filed a motion for reconsideration with the court of appeals. The board decided that they would not discuss certifying MCRI until the court ruled on this motion and on Friday, December 2nd, we were notified that MCRI was removed from the December 7th agenda.

We filed an emergency motion with the court asking the Court to rule immediately — and they did. At about 6:00 PM on Dec. 7th the Court, again, ordered the BofC to certify MCRI immediately. And also, on their own initiative,fined 3 members of our opposition $500 each for “filing a motion grossly lacking in requirements of propriety.”

Even after this second order, there were reports that the Board was going to hold off certifying MCRI until after the appeals process ran out (a delay that would have lasted until at least February). However, after we discussed filing motions to have board members held in contempt of court, the board has decided to meet. They’ve scheduled a special meeting for this Wednesday at 10:00 am. For anyone that wants to attend, the exact location is below.I will send an update to all of you after the meeting. (Keep in mind that the last time we were in front of the Board of Canvassers, the Board discussed MCRI for over 7 hours — so there’s a chance this will be a very long meeting).

For eleven months, rather than being able to give 100% of our attention to the upcoming campaign,our focus has had to be fighting bogus legal battles and raising money for legal fees. It is outrageous that our opposition has been able to delay certification for over 11 months (in CA initiatives are certified or rejected within 60 days after signatures have been submitted).

I’m confident that MCRI will be certified for the November 2006 ballot, hopefully, this will happen on Wednesday and the board will do the only legal thing that they can — and that’s certify the petitions.

Please feel free to forward this email to others that support the MCRI. Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!

Jennifer Gratz

Original October 31st Ruling (9 pages): http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/documents/

opinions/final/coa/20051031_c264204_49_264204.opn.pdf

December 7th Ruling (1 page): http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/documents/coa/public/

orders/2005/264204(71)_order.pdf

Information (exact location) of Wednesday’s Board meeting: http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127–131971–,00.html

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