Voters reject Proposal 1 for state constitutional convention
Voters have spoken — Michigan will not have delegates change the constitution.
Proposal 1, which gave Michigan voters the option of calling for a constitutional convention, was not approved by 1,587,436 to 788,352 votes, with 78 percent of precincts reporting as of 12:15 a.m. today.
Michigan voters receive the option to hold a constitutional convention once every 16 years and will not have it again until 2026.
For Redford freshman Amanda Oliver who voted against Proposal 1, this outcome was exactly what she was hoping for.
“I think it’s a waste of money to spend millions of dollars on re-writing a working constitution,” Oliver said. “If it needs to be amended then it should just be amended, not totally rewritten. That money should be spent on education and creating jobs in the state.”
Had Proposal 1 been approved, 148 delegates — one from each senatorial and representative district — would have been selected through a partisan election to have the power to change the constitution in any way. The revised document would have then had to be ratified by Michigan voters.
Lawrence Sych, associate professor of political science, said the cost of holding a constitutional convention, estimated between $45 million and $50 million, was a chief argument for not adopting Proposal 1.
“Given our financial situation that’s a lot of money,” Sych said. “Compounding that, if we went ahead with the convention, the delegates may produce a document that voters will ultimately reject, so it could be a wasted effort.”
However, Sych said since a constitutional convention has not been held since 1963 the Michigan constitution is in need of substantial revision.
Despite the loss, former CMU student and Yes on Proposal 1 campaign manager Dennis Lennox II released a statement Tuesday night which said the members of Yes on Proposal 1 look forward to sharing ideas on reinventing Michigan with Governor-elect Snyder,
“The people of Michigan overwhelmingly voted for change tonight,” Lennox said. “They want to re-invent Michigan. Tonight they showed they’re tired of the status quo.”
State Rep. Bill Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, said because the drastic change that most branches of the Michigan government are seeing, he is happy with the decision of Michigan voters to turn down Proposal 1.
“I think it was a wise choice by Michigan voters,” Caul said. “This was the wrong time for a convention.”
