Michigan Group Petitions To Revoke Whitmer Emergency Powers

MICHIGAN — A petition started by the group Unlock Michigan and aiming to repeal the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945 has received the required 500,000 signatures, although there continue to be questions surrounding how the group was able to gather the signatures.

The Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945 allows governors to issue state of emergencies during a crisis and has been used frequently amid the coronavirus pandemic by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

In a news release, Unlock Michigan, a group of Michigan residents who oppose Whitmer's emergency declarations, said it would turn the petition in to the bureau of elections "soon."

"We've succeeded in collecting more than a half-million signatures from Michigan voters in fewer than 80 days, an historic accomplishment at a pivotal point in Michigan's history," Unlock Michigan Co-Chair Ron Armstrong said in a statement. "This initiative isn't about any one rule, or any one personality. This proposed law simply takes away the ability of a single politician to rule like a monarch for as long as they like. That's a power that no politician of any party should ever have."

Related: Whitmer Extends State Of Emergency In Michigan

However, questions persist regarding how the group was able to raise the 500,000 signatures. According to a report published Tuesday by Paul Egan of The Detroit Free Press, the group paid people to give false information, illegally collect signatures and trespassed on private property.

The report cited a secretly recorded video tape.

According to the report, the group paid people $3.50 per signature while telling them "they can" do illegal things to acquire signatures.

"This can be a real shady job," Erik Tisinger, a trainer for the California signature company In the Field, Inc., told the trainees in the video, according to the Free Press. "And when I say shady, I mean, people do all sorts of illegal s--- all the time and never get caught. It's really hard to get caught doing s--- except for, like, forgeries."

A spokesman for Unlock Michigan told the Free Press that In the Field, which hired Tisinger, will not get paid for the signatures it collected due to the contents of the video.

The petition was formed due to issues some residents have with Whitmer's use of emergency orders during the pandemic. She has extended the emergency declaration continuously, with the current order set to expire Oct. 1.