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Michigan Allow Prisoners to Earn Sentencing Credits Initiative (2024)
| Michigan Allow Prisoners to Earn Sentencing Credits Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Prisons | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Michigan Allow Prisoners to Earn Sentencing Credits Initiative was not on the ballot in Michigan as an indirect initiated state statute on November 5, 2024.
The ballot measure would have provided for a majority of prisoners to earn sentencing credits.[1]
The proposed ballot measure is an indirect initiated state statute. In Michigan, citizen-initiated statutes that receive enough valid signatures are sent to the Legislature, which then has 40 days to pass the initiative into law. The governor cannot veto indirect initiatives that legislators approve. If the legislature does not approve the initiative, then it appears on the next general election ballot.
Text of measure
The full text of the ballot measure is available here.
Sponsor
- Michigan Justice Advocacy is leading the support for this initiative.[2]
Path to the ballot
Process in Michigan
In Michigan, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election. Signatures older than 180 days are invalid, which means all signatures must be collected within a 180-day window. Petitions for initiated statutes must be filed 160 days prior to the election. Successful initiative petitions are sent to the legislature, which then has 40 days to pass the proposed law. If the legislature does not approve the initiative, it goes on the ballot. If the legislature approves the initiative, it becomes law without needing the signature of the governor.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2024 ballot:
- Signatures: 356,958 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was May 29, 2024.
Signature petitions are filed with the secretary of state and verified by the board of state canvassers using a random sample method of verification.
Stages of this initiative
- The campaign Michigan United filed a petition with the State Board of Canvassers on October 15, 2021.[1]
- The Board approved the petition form on December 10, 2021.[1]
- Good Time Ballot Initiative, the campaign organized for the initiative, announced on March 21, 2022, that petitioners had collected 219,800 signatures.[3]
- On June 1, 2022, the Good Time Ballot Initiative announced that they did not collect enough signatures for the 2022 ballot.[4]
- On March 3, 2023, the petition summary submitted by Michigan Justice Advocacy was approved by the Board of State Canvassers.[5]
- On May 10, 2023, the petition was filed with the Bureau of Elections.[5]
- On June 30, 2023, updated petition language was filed.[5]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Michigan Board of State Canvassers, "Initiation of Legislation," accessed July 18, 2023
- ↑ Michigan Justice Advocacy, "Home," accessed July 18, 2023
- ↑ Twitter, "Good Time Initiative MI," March 21, 2022
- ↑ Good Time Ballot Initiative, "Home," June 1, 2022
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Michigan Secretary of State, "Statewide Petition Status," accessed July 18, 2023
