The 
Reproductive 
Freedom 

for All constitutional amendment 

will not appear on the November 

ballot after the Michigan Board of 

State Canvassers tied on a Tuesday 

afternoon vote. The decision is 

expected to be appealed to the 

Michigan Supreme Court. 

The 
proposed 
amendment 

would 
protect 
the 
right 
to 

abortion, contraceptives and other 

reproductive healthcare services in 

Michigan. The four board members 

split the vote along partisan lines, 

with board chair Anthony Daunt 

(R) and board member Richard 

Houskamp (R) voting against its 

placement on the ballot and vice 

chair Mary Ellen Gurewitz (D) and 

board member Jeannette Bradshaw 

(D) voting in favor. 

The board is responsible for 

reviewing 
nominating 
petitions 

and statewide ballot initiatives, 

certifying statewide elections and 

overseeing other election practices, 

such as electronic voting systems. 

As of Sept. 1, the board has only 

approved one ballot initiative, which 

seeks to modify term limit and 

financial disclosure requirements 

for state lawmakers.

The 
tied 
vote 
leaves 
the 

Reproductive 
Freedom 
for 
All 

initiative off the ballot. In response, 

Reproductive 
Freedom 
for 
All, 

the group which sponsored the 

proposed amendment, is expected 

to appeal the decision, calling on the 

liberal leaning Michigan Supreme 

Court to put the amendment on the 

ballot. 

The initiative collected nearly 

800,000 signatures, of which the 

Michigan 
Bureau 
of 
Elections 

estimates around 596,000 were 

valid, exceeding the 425,059 needed 

to be on the ballot. 

Opponents of the amendment 

have pointed to issues with spacing 

and errors in the text distributed 

to signers of the petitions rendered 

the results invalid. Reproductive 

Freedom for All lawyer Steve Liedel 

said that is not a legitimate legal 

reason to reject it. 

Darci McConnell, a spokeswoman 

for Reproductive Freedom for All, 

told The Detroit News the group 

adhered to all laws governing the 

petitioning process. 

“We are confident that we’re 

in compliance with the legal and 

statutory requirements for ballot 

proposals,” McConnell said. “In 

fact, hundreds of thousands of 

Michiganders have spoken: more 

than 730,000 registered voters 

— a record number — have read, 

understood and signed the petition.”

Abortion 
remains 
legal 
in 

Michigan 
under 
a 
preliminary 

injunction 
blocking 
the 
state’s 

1931 abortion ban, issued as part 

of a lawsuit filed by Gov. Gretchen 

Whitmer. Whitmer’s suit requests 

the 
Michigan 
Supreme 
Court 

consider 
if 
abortion 
access 
is 

included in the state constitution.

If the Reproductive Freedom for 

All initiative is on the November 

ballot, it needs a simple majority vote 

to pass. If passed, the amendment 

would go into effect 45 days after 

the election. If the petition is not 

included on the ballot, the Michigan 

Supreme 
Court’s 
decision 
in 

Whitmer’s suit would determine 

whether abortion is constitutionally 

protected in the state.

Daily Staff Reporter Samantha 

Rich can be reached at sammrich@

umich.edu.

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Michigan board deadlocks on reproductive 
healthcare rights for November ballot

SAMANTHA RICH
Daily News Reporter

NEWS

GOP nominates Epstein, 
Vartanian for contested 
regents seats

Absentee ballots applications 
now available for November 
general election

ISABELLA KASSA
Daily News Reporter

SAMANTHA RICH
Daily News Reporter

KATE WEILAND
Managing Editor kmwblue@umich.edu
KEITH MELONG/Daily
Drag performer Zooey Gaychanel celebrates the local LGBTQ+ community with students on Palmer Field Sunday afternoon.

ANNA FUDER/Daily
Citizens participate in the March for Reproductive Rights in downtown Ann Arbor 
October 2021.

Republican 
delegates 

representing 
every 
Michigan 

county met in Lansing Saturday to 

nominate their party’s candidates 

for the University of Michigan 

Board of Regents, among other 

statewide positions. Lena Epstein 

and 
Sevag 
Vartanian 
were 

nominated as candidates for the 

Board of Regents following the 

convention.

Both candidates were endorsed 

prior to Saturday’s nomination by 

the Michigan Republican Party 

during an April convention where 

Rudy Giuliani, former President 

Donald Trump’s former attorney, 

personally endorsed Epstein. 

According to the Detroit Free 

Press, Ron Weiser, current regent 

and chairman of the Michigan 

Republican Party, was booed by 

“hundreds” During the April 

endorsement, 
Epstein 
called 

Weiser a “crook” and stated that 

she was calling for his “immediate 

resignation” 
in 
front 
of 
the 

audience.

Epstein is the co-owner of Vesco 

Oil Corporation in Southfield, 

Mich. and served as the Michigan 

chair for the Trump Campaign in 

2016. Vartanian currently runs 

Vartanian Capital Management, 

an asset management firm in 

Novi, Mich. 

Epstein 
faced 
allegations 

of domestic abuse following 

a 
September 
2021 
incident 

in which she was arrested 

at Mackinac Island’s Grand 

Hotel for allegedly assaulting 

her boyfriend in front of her 

young child while under the 

influence of alcohol. The arrest 

came to light last month when 

Epstein’s ex-husband’s lawyer 

stated 
during 
their 
divorce 

proceedings 
that 
Epstein’s 

“behavior over the past year has 

been questionable and erratic.” 

No 
criminal 
charges 
were 

brought against Epstein due to 

the incident. 

In an interview with Bridge 

Michigan, Epstein called the 

allegations “fake news” and 

offered to provide a reporter 

with some “real tangible gossip” 

that “doesn’t involve (Epstein).”

Epstein 
and 
Vartanian 

will run against Democratic 

incumbents Katherine White 

and 
Michael 
Behm 
in 
the 

November General Election.

Daily Staff Reporter Isabella 

Kassa can be reached at ikassa@

umich.edu.

Michigan residents can now 

apply for absentee ballots for the 

Nov. 8 general election, according 

to an Aug. 25 press release from 

Jocelyn 
Benson, 
Michigan 

Secretary of State. 

To apply for an absentee ballot, 

voters can either register online 

here before 5 p.m. the Friday 

before the election, or download 

and print the application and 

return it by mail or in-person to 

the local city or township clerk.

“Every successful election we 

have held in Michigan over the 

last three years, voters have made 

it clear they want options for 

how and when to cast their ballot 

by choosing to do so absentee in 

record numbers,” Benson wrote 

in the release. “No matter what 

secure method they choose — 

whether voting by mail, local 

drop box or at their clerk’s office 

— Michiganders can be confident 

their vote will be counted and 

their voice will be heard.” 

Voters can now use a ballot-

tracking tool to monitor when 

their local clerk receives their 

absentee application, when the 

ballot has been mailed to them 

and when the state receives their 

completed ballot. 

On the ballot this year are 

candidates for governor, lieutenant 

governor, 
attorney 
general, 

secretary of state, the Michigan 

legislature and local and state 

judges. Michigan voters will also 

decide on candidates for the boards 

of the University of Michigan, 

Michigan State University and 

Wayne State University, as well as 

ballot measures. 

Proposals must receive a specific 

number of signatures in order to 

appear on the ballot — 425,059 

for a constitutional amendment 

and 340,047 for legislation. As of 

August 29, only one proposal that 

alters term limits and financial 

disclosure requirements for state 

lawmakers is on the ballot. Five 

more have submitted signatures to 

the Board of Canvassers for review. 

The state will begin mailing out 

absentee ballots by Sept. 29. All 

absentee ballots must be returned 

to a local clerk’s office by 8:00p.m. 

on Nov. 8; mail-in ballots must be 

postmarked Nov. 8 or earlier to be 

counted. 

Correction 8/30: This headline 

has been updated to clarify that 

only absentee ballot applications 

are 
available, 
not 
the 
ballots 

themselves.

Daily Staff Reporter Samantha 

Rich can be reached at sammrich@

umich.edu.

NEWS
NEWS

Protection of right to abortion, contraceptives denied ballot appearance, court fight expected

After contentious convention, candidates turn to 
general election against Behm and White

Register online or in-person to vote by mail 
securely between today and Nov. 4

