NOVEMBER’S ELECTION BALLOT IS FULL OF CANDIDATES AND PROPOSALS

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

This November’s election ballot is a full one, with not only candidates vying for local, county, state and federal offices but also several ballot proposals at the local and state levels.

The three statewide proposals on the Nov. 6 ballot have received the most attention as Michigan voters are being asked to approve recreational marijuana, anti-gerrymandering and voting rights measures. Area residents got the chance to learn more about the three proposals at a League of Women Voters forum earlier this month at the Berrien RESA.

The recreational marijuana proposal is likely the most controversial of the three proposals. Supporters say it would make Michigan a national marijuana leader, bring in millions of dollars in revenue while allowing local municipalities to have control. Opponents say youth would be targeted, it would increase criminal activity and hurt the economy.

Area prosecutors and law enforcement officials are among those who have come out strongly against the proposal.

Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz has been among those leading the opposition in Southwest Michigan. He’s pointed out the myriad of reasons why people should vote no, from the dangers to children to the negative impact it will have on the state as a whole.

Statistics he’s shared in recent weeks include Colorado’s experience since approving the use of recreational marijuana in 2013. That state has seen an increase in violent crime, an increase in property crime as well as an increase in overall crime at a time when crime rates have dropped nationally.

As for the other two state proposals, Michigan League of Women Voters board member Paula Manley reported that her organization supports both.

The redistricting proposal would establish a citizen commission to draw legislative district lines every 10 years rather than the current practice of the political party in power doing so.

As proposed by the Voters Not Politicians group, the commission established by the Michigan Secretary of State would have four Democrats, four Republicans and five non-affiliated voters and all proceedings and maps drawn would be done in public.

The third proposal would make a number of changes to voting requirements. It would allow for no reason absentee voting, straight ticket voting, authorize automatic and Election Day voter registration, add requirements to overseas and military voting and call for post election audits.

While the League supports the redistricting and voting requirements proposals, others disagree. Opposition has come from a number of quarters including local clerks around the state, Republican candidates and the editorial board of the Detroit News.

Local clerks say the proposal changing voting requirements has some good points but paints with too broad of a brush. For example, allowing for Election Day voter registration would be burdensome for their offices and lead to not only voting delays on Election Day but also possible voter fraud.

As for the redistricting proposal, opponents say the proposal puts too much power in the hands of the Michigan Secretary of State which is a partisan position and does not remove politicians from the process as promised. They also say it would be confusing and costly.

Besides the statewide proposals, a number of local proposals are on the ballot this November in Southwest Michigan. Among those are road millage renewals in Berrien, Pipestone and Sodus Townships in Berrien County, a bond issue proposal for the Berrien Springs schools and a second attempt to get a millage passed to pay for the Dowagiac library expansion.

The three townships are asking approval for four-year road millage renewals. For Berrien Township, the $40 per parcel annual levy represents a $4 a year increase from the past four years. For Pipestone, the $60 per parcel annual levy is the same as the past four years. In Sodus, the two mill request would restore the levy residents had been paying in the past.

The Berrien Springs school district is asking voters to approve a $19.73 million bond issue for the construction of a new performing arts center and a new indoor athletic center, both next to the high school. The bond issue will require a 3.96 mill levy for 20 years but the actual increase for property owners will be less than one mill with other levies expiring.

Dowagiac District Library officials are hoping for a better outcome on their new one-mill levy request after the measure lost narrowly in August. The new levy would run for 20 years to pay for a $7.4 million library expansion and renovation.