Over this past year Michigan United (MU) took on the heavy lift of hosting an initiative campaign. According to the board of canvassers, the minimum number of valid signatures required for each petition is based on the total number of votes cast for the most recent gubernatorial election. This past year, after more than 4 million Michiganders cast their ballots in 2018, the bar for signature collection was a minimum of 340,047 valid petition signatures in order for the issue to be added to the ballot in November for the larger population of Michigan’s citizens to decide on.
This year was the second attempt, following SawariMedia’s canvassing campaign in support of the Michigan Prisoner Rehabilitation Credit Act (MPRCA) in 2019/20, that Michigan’s residents have attempted to repeal Truth-In-Sentencing (TIS) via initiative petition. Along with proposing a repeal to TIS laws via initiative petition, others are also advocating for change in TIS laws via a bill in the state legislature. Groups, like Michigan Justice Advocacy (MJA), are lobbying legislators to write a bill to restore good time credits through the state legislature. However, passing legislation through congress is an extremely slow process that doesn’t offer us any guarantees as to how those credits will be implemented. Even if lobbyists are successful in convincing representatives to pass a bill, that could result in a law being passed that isn’t retroactive. The implementation of the new legislation would depend completely on what representatives are comfortable with. With only a small number of representatives like Irwin, Santana and Chang welcoming “criminal justice reforms”, we still may not be satisfied with what other more resistant representatives are comfortable with passing. While I support all the methods that advocates are taking on in order to bring back good time, both houses of the legislature would have to agree to repeal TIS in order for that method to be successful. Understanding that TIS laws were established through the popular vote (after Biden’s laws of 1998 which incentivized keeping prisons full), having another popular vote reversing this decision with retroactive implementation two decades later would be the most impactful action.
I want to share an excerpt from a letter I received from Mr. Vazquez last month
“I can see and hear of a lot of people always trying to help pass goodtime and also help to get programs for us in here; however, I also realized that many people in prison, including their families, lack the knowledge to know how to register to vote, how to vote, and how to make sure their signature is a valid signature so that they can sign the petition. I also realized that the reason why GoodTime is not being passed is because those who are affected by this truth-in-sentencing, are not educated enough to help change the laws or help…Those who are very well educated, who know how to vote, have a career, have a college degree and other education, do not need to vote on GoodTime because they are less likely to come to prison and therefore, don’t vote for GoodTime because they think it doesn’t effect them. My family and I do not know how to vote or participate in voting someone into office who can help our cause…”
It’s essential that signers be registered to vote, not only to have a valid signature, but also for them to be prepared to vote on the initiative by the time of the election. MU’s campaign failed to collect a significant amount of signatures due to the many invalid signatures that were collected. I’m sure you’re wondering exactly how many signatures were collected? Unfortunately, campaign directors have refused to share that number, but the number doesn’t really matter. This issue of political engagement is much more critical because we’re forced to educate supporters on how to register to vote and how to provide/collect valid signatures before anything. To address those issues raised I want to outline some critical understandings when it comes to petition initiatives for you to save for our next go round:
- Online signatures are not valid, any online petition is just a collection of data, a pledge to sign, but it has no legal standing for the ballot initiative
- Petition signatures for a ballot initiative must be collected by a trained canvasser on a printed petition sheet that includes the full wording of the proposed legislation on the backside
- n order for a printed signature to be valid, the signer’s signature cannot collide with any other signatures above or below it (if the signature is outside of the box then the next box should be skipped to avoid signature collisions). Also the date signed should be no earlier than the date that the signer registered to vote (They can submit a voter registration application on the same day they they sign the petition in order for their signature to be valid).
These guidelines, along with a video tutorial were available on the site: goodtimeinitiative.org
Finally, and most significantly, the Good Time Initiative failed to make it across the finish line this year mainly due to a lack funding. Other initiatives have been able to pay canvassers which significantly increase the number of people on the ground collecting signatures each day. Problems with invalid signatures are less important when you have thousands of extra signatures being collected. Our team of canvassers were all volunteer led, so it is honorable that we were able to collect as many signatures as we did. Not one dollar motivated a single signature, every single canvasser and signer’s efforts were fueled by their own passion and perseverance for this cause. For example, Kimberly Woodson, collected the largest number of petition sheets by far, turning in hundreds each month. I had the privilege of canvassing with her at multiple events and am honored to work alongside such powerful people like Mrs. Woodson who use their experience of incarceration in order to inspire change. I understand that many of you have donated towards the cause to repeal TIS laws, unfortunately funds were never allocated to the canvassing efforts that would have greatly benefited the initiative petition’s campaigning. MU relied on the sales of mugs and T-shirts to funds this campaign, I bought a T-shirt, but it’s obvious not enough people did.
Now where do we go from here? MU is committed to repealing TIS but needs a coalition of power organizations to come together in order to push this cause across the finish line. Maybe we’ll see some type of good time bill move forward in the legislature (not one bill has made it passed the introduction phase to be voted on), but rather than defer to legislators (who have yet to take aggressive action to preserve the rights of people in prison) we must ensure that we equip of community to be prepared for an initiative campaign in 2024.
It’s not that Good Time doesn’t make enough good sense, it’s the pathway for being civically engaged in the state of Michigan doesn’t make good sense and that processes for amending policies are intentionally mystified. To combat this, organized education is essential all year-round, not just during canvassing season that needs to be led and maintained by the people most impacted.
