Michigan Proposal No. 2, Supreme Court Justices Initiative (1938)
| Michigan Proposal No. 2 | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic State judicial selection and State judiciary oversight |
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| Status |
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| Type Initiated constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Michigan Proposal No. 2 was on the ballot as an initiated constitutional amendment in Michigan on November 8, 1938. It was defeated.
A “yes” vote supported establishing the non-partisan appointment and nomination process for supreme court justices and establishing the term of supreme court justices as eight years. |
A “no” vote opposed establishing the non-partisan appointment and nomination process for supreme court justices and establishing the term of supreme court justices as eight years. |
Election results
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Michigan Proposal No. 2 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 504,904 | 40.39% | ||
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745,312 | 59.61% | ||
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- Results are officially certified.
- Source
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Proposal No. 2 was as follows:
| “ | (Proposal No. 2) SHALL THE CONSTITUTION BE AMENDED, AS PROVIDED BELOW, TO PROVIDE FOR THE NON-PARTISAN NOMINATING AND APPOINTMENT OF SUPREME COURT JUSTICES FOR EIGHT-YEAR TERMS? AMENDING SECTION 2 OF ARTICLE VII OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION: No. 2 Sec. 2. The supreme court shall consist of justices who shall, annually, appoint one of their number chief justice of the court. The term of office of the justices, other than those appointed to fill an unexpired term, shall be eight years, and not more than two justices shall go out of office at the same time. No person shall be eligible to such appointment unless such person, is and for ten or more years shall have been, admitted to practice law in courts of record of this state. When a vacancy occurs in the office of a present or future justice of the supreme court, or the term of such justice shall expire, the office shall be filled by appointment by the governor upon nomination or nominations by the judiciary commission. The judiciary commission shall consist of a justice of the supreme court elected by the justices of that court, a circuit judge elected by the judges of the circuit courts, a probate judge elected by the judges of the probate courts, three electors of this state not license to practice law therein appointed by the governor, and three members of the bar of this state appointed by the commissioners of the state bar of Michigan. The term of office of the members of the judiciary commission, other than members elected for appointed to fill an unexpired term, shall be three years, except that of the members first appointed by the governor and of the members first appointed by the commissioners of the state bar of Michigan, one of each shall be appointed for one year and one of each for two years.No more thant wo in each of the groups appointed by the governor and the commissioners of the state bar of Michigan shall beflong to the same poltical party, and no member of said group shall hold any other poltical office. The termo of office of the first mmebrs of the judiciary commission shall commence as of the effective date hereof. No member of the judiciary commission shall be eleigble for election or appointment for two successive terms. Should the office of any member of the judiciary commission remain unfilled for sixty days after a vacncy therein without compensation except as to actual expenses. The commission shall form its membership elect a chairman and a secretary,. The provisions of section 20 of article VII of this constituion shall not apply to the supreme court. Yes No | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.
In Michigan, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 10% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. A simple majority vote is required for voter approval.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Michigan Lansing (capital) |
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