VOTE TODAY! VOTE NO ON PROPOSAL ONE

(Lansing, Mich.)—To protect Michigan’s constitution from being rewritten by out-of-state actors and interests, Michigan Catholic Conference is encouraging a no vote on the Proposal 1 ballot question this November, which will ask voters if a constitutional convention should be convened.

The current Michigan Constitution requires a proposal to be placed on the ballot every 16 years asking Michiganders if they wish to completely revise the state’s governing document. Michigan voters have soundly rejected the proposal each time it has appeared on the ballot since the 1963 ratification of the current state constitution.

Following a unanimous decision made in June by the Michigan Catholic Conference Board of Directors—which is chaired by the Archbishop of Detroit and consists of the diocesan bishops in Michigan, a priest, a religious sister, and five laypersons—MCC has joined the statewide nonpartisan coalition Protect MI Constitution to encourage a no vote on the proposal.

As the public policy voice of the Church in Michigan, MCC does not endorse political candidates or parties, but will occasionally take positions on ballot questions that impact the common good at the direction of the Board of Directors.

“With the nationalization of state-based politics becoming more the norm than the exception, a constitutional convention would likely open Michigan’s governing document to extraordinary out-of-state influence and engagement,” said Paul A. Long, president and CEO of MCC.

While changes and improvements could be made to the Michigan Constitution—particularly policies that impact human life and access to education choice—individual policies can currently be pursued on an issue-by-issue basis through the citizens’ initiative process, which allows individuals and groups to petition for constitutional amendments to be placed on the ballot.

In addition to voting no on Proposal 1, MCC is calling on Catholics in Michigan to prepare and participate prayerfully in the statewide election this November, when voters will decide the next governor, one of the state’s two U.S. senators, each of the state’s 13 congressional representatives, two seats on the Michigan Supreme Court, and all 148 seats in the state Legislature, among other state and local races.