MIDLAND, Mich. — Less than a day after Michigan voters approved Proposal 2, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy asked a federal judge to freeze key speech and donor-disclosure pieces of the new campaign-finance rules.
The Midland-based group filed Mackinac Center v. Benson in federal court in western Michigan, listing Secretary of State Benson and Attorney General Nessel among the defendants. More than 80% of voters backed the Money out of Politics measure on Tuesday.
Counsel for the center, with help from the Institute for Free Speech, argue the electioneering rules cover messages that never tell people how to vote and compel groups to hand over names, home addresses, jobs and employers of people who give money. They warn that research notes, issue writing and social posts that merely mention candidates could dry up before elections, with criminal exposure hanging over publishers.
The complaint asks the court to call those mandates unconstitutional and stop the state from enforcing them. Center vice president for legal affairs Patrick Wright said the group wants a fast answer on what is legal so it is not the target of a criminal complaint, a risk he said every Michigan resident shares.
Maura Cowley, who managed the Michiganders for Money out of Politics campaign, said the challenge was expected and that backers still believe the proposal will hold. The Mackinac Center is leaving alone the utility gift ban that bars regulated power companies and their executives from bankrolling many Michigan campaigns and PACs. A spokesperson for the secretary of state said the office could not discuss active cases.
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