MACKINAC ISLAND — Only one ballot initiative aiming to change state laws submitted enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, as high-profile petition campaigns were undone by a lack of valid signatures and forgery concerns.
Those proposals — ranging from tightening the state’s election rules to raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour — missed the Wednesday signature submission deadline.
Organizers of the proposals, particularly those led by conservatives, said they hope to submit signatures later this year in hopes the Republican-led Legislature will pass them into law. Those efforts could face significant hurdles.
As it stands, the only petition drive to make the deadline was Michiganders for Fair Lending, a proposal to cap the annual interest rates for payday loans at 36 percent and allow the state attorney general to prosecute lenders who exceed that rate.
The group said it turned in 405,625 signatures, well over the 340,047 valid signatures required for the ballot. State officials still must review them for their validity.
The failure of high-profile ballot measures is the latest fallout from a forged signature scandal that has roiled the Republican gubernatorial ranks in recent weeks.
The Board of State Canvassers kept five candidates, including James Craig and Perry Johnson, off the ballot due to lack of valid signatures. Legal challenges of the decision have failed so far.
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