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Issue 1465 April 22, 2012
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This law is almost as stupid as the recently adopted legislation rammed through by the GOP banning straight ticket voting.

DARK ELECTIONS: Rep. Matt Bierlein Joins Action Against State Gag Law

January 27, 2016       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Tinkering with state laws has led to new designations like Dark Stores, Dark Money, and now, Dark Elections.

The most absurd, anti-democratic, ridiculous law that prevents public officials from informing voters about details of elections is now pitting one Tuscola County Republican against his own GOP-dominated state legislature.

This law is almost as stupid as the recently adopted legislation rammed through by the GOP banning straight ticket voting. If that is aimed at deterring voters, and apparently it is, it needs to be challenged in court too.

Noting that public officials have a right to inform voters, Tuscola County Commissioner Matthew Bierlein, R-Vassar, has joined a federal lawsuit to overturn Subsection 57(3) of Michigan's Campaign Finance Act, which now restricts communications between local officials and local voters in the 60 days leading up to a ballot measure election.

"This law keeps voters from getting the information they need to make informed decisions," added Bierlein, who also sits on the board of the Michigan Association of Counties.

Tuscola County is among the 14 counties that have ballot questions at the March 8 election; questions that local officials are now hindered in explaining to voters due to changes in state law enacted in a last-minute, late-night move by the Legislature before it ended its work last December.

In 2015, Bierlein and his colleagues on the Tuscola Board of Commissioners made a two-part decision: first, they determined that the county's General Fund could no longer sustain appropriations for MSU Extension Services in the county; second, they decided the voters should have the last word, by putting forward a property tax millage to fund MSUE on the March 8 ballot.

In the first week of January, when Gov. Rick Snyder signed the revised Campaign Finance Act, Bierlein and his colleagues were promptly blocked from fully informing voters about the MSUE issue at just the time the public needed the background the most.

Bierlein joined a lawsuit with other local and school officials around the state to overturn the law since the Legislature has yet to act on measures to repeal the section that is silencing local officials.

"Since the Legislature has not moved to fix this situation with a straightforward repeal, it became clear that litigation was necessary to protect the interests of the public," Bierlein said.

We are grossly disappointed in Gov. Snyder for failing to recognize that this law makes no sense and probably is unconstitutional. If the lawsuit brought by MAC fails, this corner will join a campaign to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on constitutional grounds.

Snyder should have been more publicly spirited and should have vetoed the bill when it hit his desk. Shame on you, Gov. Rick!

And kudos to you, Rep. Bierlein, for standing up for the public's right to know.

Michigan is already taking a bath over the Flint water debacle; we don't need any more bad press over nonsensical, neo-fascist Republican shenanigans that offend the public.

. For more information on this issue, visit www.micounties.org.

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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