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INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 99
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
STAT E M ENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Michigan voters have approved
Proposal
3,
also
known
as
Reproductive Freedom For All,
with 54% voting in support and
46% of votes counted, according to
NBC News.
Proposal 3 is a constitutional
amendment that enshrines the right
to abortion, birth control and other
forms of reproductive healthcare
in
the
Michigan
Constitution.
The initiative gathered a record-
breaking 753,000 signatures in
its support, of which the Board of
State Canvassers estimates around
596,000 were valid. The proposal
was initially kept off the ballot
after the two Democrats and two
Republicans on the board split
the vote on whether to certify the
initiative. Following an appeal from
Reproductive Freedom For All, the
Michigan Supreme Court ruled it
would appear on the ballot.
The
amendment
repeals
Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban that
criminalizes all abortions except
to save the life of the pregnant
person. While currently blocked by
a preliminary injunction following
a lawsuit from Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer, the overturning of Roe v.
Wade opened up the possibility of
its enforcement.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, Nursing senior
Linda Camp said she was excited to
vote yes on Proposal 3 this Election
Day.
Proposal 3
passes with
56.7% of vote
NEWS
SAMANTHA RICH
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
As temperatures dropped
to the low 40s, over a hundred
students and local residents
stood in line — bundled up
with blankets and cradling
cups of hot chocolate — outside
the University of Michigan
Museum of Art polling station
for hours after it officially
closed at 8 p.m.
The Ann Arbor City Clerk
Satellite
Office
at
UMMA
opened
on
Sept.
27
and
remained open until the last
voter of the night, Rackham
student Erik Pedersen, cast his
ballot at 2:05 a.m. after waiting
in line for 6 hours.
“I was teaching my classes
and I didn’t have time (to vote)
at any point during the day,”
Pedersen said. “I saw the line
out here and I felt I had to make
the effort to get out here and I
got in line just in time as they
were closing the doors.”
As
a
speaker
radiated
music between the campus
buildings next to the Diag, the
atmosphere was filled with
excitement
and
eagerness
from the students lined up
outside, despite the late hour.
Pedersen
said
the
support
from volunteers impacted his
decision to wait out the line.
“E
veryone’s
been
very
supportive
and
upbeat,”
Pedersen said. “People have
been bringing me pizza. This
coat and blanket is not mine
— somebody gave it to me and
everybody’s been very nice so
far.”
Kulin Oak, LSA and Business
senior, said he joined the
UMMA line around 7:30 p.m.
and would continue to wait
despite the cold weather. As a
Michigan resident, Oak said he
is taking advantage of same-
day registration.
“I know that if I don’t stay
in the line, I miss my chance
to vote, and I don’t want to
let people who have different
views than myself vote on
policy that’s gonna affect me
and my family,” Oak said. “So
I want to at least give my best
shot at having my voice be
heard.”
Oak said he was particularly
interested in casting a vote
for incumbent Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer and voting ‘Yes’ on
Proposal 3, a ballot initiative
that would enshrine the right
to
an
abortion
and
other
reproductive health measures
in the Michigan Constitution.
“I’m excited to vote for
Whitmer,” Oak said. “I know
also with Prop 3 being on the
ballot, it’s really important to
show support for that. I know
that there are things across the
ticket, but those are the two
main things I was interested in
voting (for).”
Public Policy junior Eva
Hale, co-president of Students
for Whitmer, said she has been
at the UMMA polling location
since 11 a.m. to support those
waiting in line in the cold.
She said volunteers from all
around the city came to the line
throughout the day to donate
blankets and food.
“We’re really just trying to
make sure people are okay in
line,” Hale said. “We have a ton
of pizza, loads of blankets and
we’re giving people snacks.”
As the end of the line slowly
crept closer and closer to the
UMMA entrance, Hale stood
on the grass field outside
the building collecting and
folding blankets with around
a
dozen
other
volunteers.
Multiple community members
credited the support to social
media posts from Washtenaw
County Democratic Party chair
Chris Savage. Hale said the
remaining blankets and food
will be donated to the Shelter
Association
of
Washtenaw
County at the Delonis Center
as well as Miller Manor, both
local homeless shelters.
Molly Ging, a longtime Ann
Arbor resident, said she had
been at the UMMA location
volunteering
for
over
two
hours after seeing Twitter
posts about how long students
had been in line. As a mother
in Ann Arbor, Ging said these
posts inspired her to come out
and support students waiting
in the cold.
“When that bat signal was
sent out, all my mom friends
came out with food and hand
warmers,” Ging said. “If we
hear they’re hungry and cold,
we will be there.”
Ann Arbor resident Julia
Hale said she had been offered
blankets, hand warmers, pizza,
McDonald’s chicken nuggets,
chocolate, granola bars, cheese,
tea, coffee and hot chocolate
while she was waiting to
vote. She said at some point, a
volunteer was walking around
taking orders from prospective
voters about what they needed.
“I’ve gotta see it through; I
have to see it through,” Julia
Hale said. “I’ve been out here
for like two hours now. I just
feel like our country is in a
really fucked up place…. I
believe in doing my part for
harm reduction.”
KRISTINA ZHENG &
ANNA FIFELSKI
Managing News Editor and
Daily News Editor
Students stand in long lines
after dark
NEWS
The Michigan Democratic Party
announced Thursday that state
Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, will be the
next House speaker and state Sen.
Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, will
be the next Senate majority leader.
The move comes after Michigan
Democrats gained control of the
governorship and both houses of the
state legislature for the first time
since 1984.
Tate is currently serving his
second term in the House, where he
holds the position of vice chair of the
House Appropriations Committee.
He will be the state of Michigan’s first
Black House speaker.
In an interview with The Michigan
Daily on Friday, Tate said House
Democrats will continue working
toward the priorities they’ve held
in the past, which include workers’
rights, infrastructure investments
and environmental protections. Tate
said while he will bring his personal
life experiences to this role, he also
wants to ensure that the House’s
legislation is representative of a
diversity of voices and backgrounds
in the state.
“We are a diverse group that live
in the state of Michigan and that was
reflected in this leadership race,”
Tate said.
“I’m going to bring my experiences
as a Black man, as a Detroiter to this
role as speaker, but also, we know
that what we do in the House — the
policies that we vote on and the laws
that we pass — we want to make sure
that it will have a positive impact
New House
speaker,
Senate leader
make history
NEWS
SAMANTHA RICH
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
MICHIGAN GOES
BLUE
Michigan’s
2022
election
saw a midterm-record 4.45
million voters turn out to the
polls, resulting in a Democratic
trifecta in the Michigan House,
Senate and Governor seat for the
first time in nearly 40 years.
Voters
across
the
state,
including University of Michigan
students, faculty and community
members, voted on some pivotal
issues, including abortion, crime,
the
economy,
immigration,
inflation and student debt. From
early in the morning to late into
the night, students and Ann
Arbor residents sat through
hours of cold on Nov. 8 waiting
to vote at the University of
Michigan Museum of Art, and
countless others made their way
to designated polling locations
between Tuesday’s classes.
With wins from incumbent
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer,
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II,
Attorney General Dana Nessel
and Secretary of State Jocelyn
Benson, many U-M students said
they feel hopeful for the future
and the state of Michigan. LSA
sophomore Philip Rentschler
said he was especially glad to
see the Democratic Party take
control of the trifecta of state
politics, with control of both
legislative chambers along with
the governor’s office.
“I’m excited to see the
Democratic Party hold this
trifecta,”
Rentschler
said.
“Although I find the Democratic
Party to be less progressive than
I’d like it to be, they’re still more
likely to move forward than their
opposition is. With this much
hold over the legislative process,
I hope to see them do just that.
For example, I’d love to see
them push for better education
funding,
climate
regulation,
racial equality, sexual equality
and so forth while they have the
best chance to do so.”
LSA freshman Natalie Wise
said she felt inspired by the
voter turnout this year, which
made history in the state of
Michigan. At the University,
students waited outside for as
long as six hours in order to cast
a ballot. The last student in line
voted at 2:05 a.m., after getting
in line just before the deadline
at 8 p.m.
JOSHUA NICHOLSON
& ERYN STERN
Daily Contributors
See BLUE WAVE, Page 3
TESS CROWLEY/Daily
JENNA HICKEY/Daily
Students wait in line to vote and register at the UMMA Tuesday night.
LILA TURNER/Daily
A student wraps herself in a blanket as she waits in line to register to vote in the UMMA at
1 a.m. Wednesday morning.
GRACE BEAL/Daily
Business junior Odhran Moloney lays on the floor of the UMMA and works on his laptop as
he waits in line to register and vote at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning. Moloney, an exchange
student from Ireland and dual citizen in America, stated that he did not mind the five-hour
wait to cast his first vote in the United States.
Democrats control state trifecta for first time since 1984
MI voters approve
constitutional right to
reproductive freedom
Same-day registration leads to hour-long waits
Joe Tate, Winnie Brinks
promote increased
representation
See STUDENTS WAIT IN
LINE, Page 3