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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 81
©2022 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . 4
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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Michigan voters’ guide to signing petitions
The Michigan Daily has compiled tips for all registered voters on
how to safely sign petitions in Ann Arbor
The state of Michigan allows
citizens
to
propose
ballot
initiatives,
which
can
initiate
state constitutional amendments
or proposals to implement or
repeal state legislation. Successful
initiatives can be placed on the ballot
in an upcoming election or delivered
directly to the state legislature. For
either of these to occur, citizens
must collect hundreds of thousands
of signatures; the precise number
varies in proportion to the number
of people who voted in the previous
gubernatorial election.
This year, a proposed amendment
must collect 425,059 signatures and
proposed legislation must collect
340,047. If a proposed amendment
passes this threshold, it is put
directly on the ballot for the nearest
upcoming election. For proposed
laws, enough signatures advance
the proposal to the state legislature,
where lawmakers have 40 days to
determine whether or not to adopt
it. If they choose not to, the law is
placed on the next general election
ballot for voters to evaluate.
There
are
16
petitions
in
circulation this year seeking to
change or amend state law regarding
issues such as voting, reproductive
rights, criminal justice reform and
education policy. To help navigate
this year’s petitioning process, The
Michigan Daily has compiled a list
of tactics to help voters understand
what they are signing.
1. Research this year’s petitions
before signing them.
All petitions in circulation for the
2022 election year are available in
full on the Board of State Canvassers
website. Each item links to the
full text, including all articles and
referendums, of each petition as well
as an image of a signature page. Since
Four Ann Arbor Starbucks
locations vote to unionize,
bringing state total up to five
Starbucks workers, organizers and community members
gather in front of the State Street Starbucks as four
locations announce that they have voted to unionize
Around 50 Starbucks workers,
organizers and community members
gathered in front of the Starbucks
on State Street as four Starbucks
locations across Ann Arbor voted
to unionize. The South University
Avenue location was the only one out
of five to vote against unionization.
Attendees at the rally watched
over Zoom as the votes were
counted by a representative from
the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) before the final number
was announced to the crowd over
a megaphone. The four locations
that voted to unionize — Glencoe
Crossing shopping mall, Main and
East Liberty streets, Jackson and
Zeeb roads, and State and East
Liberty streets — join a Grand Rapids
location, which became the first
unionized Starbucks in Michigan in
May.
The Glencoe Crossing location
voted in favor of unionization by a
tally of 14–0, Main and East Liberty
streets by a tally of 10–3, Jackson
and Zeeb roads by a tally of 10–2, and
State and East Liberty streets by a tally
of 15–1. The South University Avenue
location voted against unionization by
a tally of 10–16.
Labor organizer Hannah Whitbeck
was fired in April from her shift
supervisor position at the Starbucks
at Main and East Liberty streets
following her efforts to unionize the
store. Whitbeck is now attempting to
be reinstated for what she claims was
a retaliatory firing.
In an interview with The Michigan
Daily, Whitbeck said her campaign for
unionization stemmed from a desire
for better working conditions.
“We wanted better pay, we wanted
certain things negotiated, we wanted
to talk to people higher up in corporate
and have a voice,” Whitbeck said.
“Those are all seeds of unionizing,
but we just didn’t connect the two
together.”
It was only after an organizer from
the location at Jackson and Zeeb roads
came to Whitbeck’s store to discuss
unionization that the Starbucks at
Main and East Liberty streets began
to organize.
diving straight into the legal jargon of
a petition may be intimidating, The
Daily has identified two unbiased,
accurate sources of information on
this year’s petitions to help voters
learn what each petition aims to do
and which organizations support it.
Bridge Michigan’s petition drives
tracker compiles information about
13 ballot measures, each containing
an overview of what the petition
hopes to accomplish, which groups
are in support of and opposed to
the initiative and from where the
measure has received funding. The
guide is updated on a weekly basis.
Eric
Ivancich,
University
of
Michigan alum and Ann Arbor
resident, is the author of Michigan
Petitions 2022: an all-in-one guide
for Michiganders to read about the
petitioning process, how to sign a
petition and what petitions are being
circulated for the 2022 election year.
IRENA LI
& SAMANTHA RICH
Summer News Editors
Ford School hosts event, “What Comes after Roe?”
Experts in public policy, economies and medicine gather to discuss potential
circumstances that may arise should Roe v. Wade be overturned
The
University
of
Michigan
Ford School of Public Policy, the
Institute for Research on Women
and Gender, and the Center for the
Education of Women+ partnered
to host a virtual event titled “What
Comes after Roe?” on Wednesday.
Experts in public policy, economics
and medicine from the University
discussed potential reverberations
that may arise on campus, state and
national levels should Roe v. Wade
be overturned.
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court
case Roe v. Wade established the
constitutional right for an individual
to have access to abortions. Last
month, a draft by the Supreme Court
— which would overturn the decision
of abortion as a constitutional right
— was leaked.
Anna
Kirkland,
professor
of
women’s and gender studies, was
the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s
event.
“The draft opinion is very similar
to the final ruling that we will see,
which would permit, but not require,
states to criminalize abortion,”
Kirkland said. “This is particularly
important
for
those
seeking
abortion access in Michigan since
future policies in the state are still
uncertain.”
Kirkland
said
the
potential
overturning of Roe v. Wade can
be attributed to the decades-long
legal and political mobilization by
anti-abortion
religious
advocates
in the Republican Party. Kirkland
also said the structural features of
the U.S. political system might have
influenced the draft opinion, as the
Supreme Court is currently much
more conservative than the general
public.
Should Michigan become a ban
state,
self-managed
medication
abortionse — which represent more
than half of U.S. abortions — will
become more commonly used.
LENA MCDONOUGH
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com
ELI FRIEDMAN
& IRENA LI
Summer Managing News Editor &
Summer News Editor
Courtesy of Irena Li
Read more at michigandaily.com