Unlock Michigan Petition Drive On Target

The petition drive to repeal the 1945 Michigan Law that has allowed Governor Gretchen Whitmer to have unchecked power since March is on target.   Spokesman Fred Wszolek says they are confident that they’ll gather 400,000 signatures of registered Michigan voters by the end of Labor Day.  He says the effort continues to gather momentum.   “We had 100,000 after three weeks, 200,000 two weeks later, and we were at 300,000 just 10 days later,”   Wszolek says they should be able to hit the half-million mark within 75 days of starting the petition drive.  “The Governor is helping us by providing momentum when she continues to keep businesses like gyms and fitness centers closed.   Forty-six other states have opened them, letting their customers make their own decisions about whether or not they feel safe going in.   Those states are also looking at the “science”.  I don’t know what’s different about Governor’s Whitmer’s science,” said Wszolek.

Unlock Michigan has one of the better-organized efforts of its kind.  Wszolek says they have 80,000 activist volunteers working together.   He says there have been scattered reports about some people trying to intimidate volunteers and sign petitions with duplicate names or false names.  “It won’t affect the validity of the petitions.   We have procedures in place to catch those and eliminate those before the petitions ever get to the State Board of Canvassers.”

The repeal effort requires 330,000 signatures, but Unlock Michigan plans to gather 500,000.

Volunteers were working in front of the old Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant location on Beckley Road in Battle Creek, with a steady stream of voters signing.   They said a few people were driving by and giving them the finger and shouting profanities, but most people were supportive.

Fred Wszolek says they are very much on target to get the required signatures approved and to the State Legislature before the end of the year.    If the State House and State Senate approve, the 1945 emergency powers law will be repealed, regardless of Governor Whitmer’s objections.

Whitmer said, “I want to be very clear: Any attempt to strip away the powers of the governor during this crisis is irresponsible, dangerous, and foolish.”