Ann Arbor voters face two proposals that could change municipal elections
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — As election day nears, Ann Arbor voters will decide on two proposals that could significantly change city elections.
Some say the change will make elections fairer, while others say it's an effort to rig the system.
Proposal C seeks to get rid of primary elections in the city and to make municipal elections non-partisan.
"A very small minority of Ann Arbor voters choose who our local leaders are," said John Godfrey with the Coalition for Ann Arbor's Future that brought the proposals forward. "And the decisions are made long before people go to the polls in November. We think that they make our elections more inclusive, more representative, to make sure all voices are represented, including university students, who are never here in August. We think that we should have everybody on the ballot in November."
City Councilmember Jen Eyer said the risk of eliminating the primary is that candidates who don't represent a majority of Ann Arbor voters could be elected.
"What this would do is eliminate our August primary and turn our City Council elections into a big November school board-style free-for-all," said Eyer. "It could be five Democrats running against one Republican. And you could end up with somebody getting elected with just a small slice of the vote."
Proposal D would take money from the city budget to establish a "Fair Elections Fund" to help level the playing field for emerging candidates, according to Godfrey.
But this has already received pushback from the Michigan Attorney General's office.
"Prop D is really a problem because the Attorney General's office has determined that it is illegal," said Eyer. "It conflicts with state law. Further, it would dedicate up to or more than $400,000 per election cycle to political candidates, and it would take away from services that we are providing to residents."
For his part, Godfrey said the amount taken from the city budget would be minuscule.
"It costs about $40,000 for somebody to run for city council race, which is absolutely exorbitant," he said. "But we would like to create a first-ever small donor campaign finance fund to allow ordinary people who are not connected to big money to have the chance to run for local office. We think that's very important."
Voters will decide in three weeks' time on Nov. 5.