Blog: Why We Need to Protect the Pro-Democracy Supreme Court

As we’ve seen nationwide, our judicial system plays an important role in the battle for our democracy. In particular, the Michigan Supreme Court plays a crucial role in safeguarding the integrity of elections and protecting voters’ rights. 

Voters Not Politicians knows intimately how our state courts can impact the trajectory of our democracy. In 2018, a split Michigan Supreme Court decision compelled the State Board of Canvassers to place our independent redistricting amendment on the ballot for voters. Just this year, in another split decision, the court overturned the anti-democratic legislative scheme known as “adopt-and-amend”. 

Newly elected Supreme Court Justices will play a crucial role in protecting Michigan’s secure and accessible voting process in the event that an anti-democracy candidate is elected president. The Court must uphold the standard of secure, accessible and fair elections that voters have come to expect in Michigan. No matter what happens at the top of the ticket, justices will be responsible for resolving legal challenges to Michigan’s election processes, election results, and voter eligibility. And that’s just what we expect to see in the near future. 

We know that many voters don’t vote their entire ballot, especially the nonpartisan section that includes Supreme Court justices. In 2022, there was a drop-off of over 1 million voters between the gubernatorial race at the top of the ticket and the nonpartisan Supreme Court justices on the back of the ballot. In the 2020 presidential election, the drop-off was even larger, with almost 2 million voters leaving the Supreme Court section blank. 

That’s why we’re working to make sure we protect the nonpartisan, pro-voter majority on the Michigan Supreme Court in this election. 

What does that look like?

Voters Not Politicians, through our statewide army of volunteers, is going to educate voters on the importance of voting their entire ballot, including the Supreme Court; advocate on behalf of our Pro-Democracy Approved Michigan supreme court candidates; collect commit-to-vote pledges and build voter plans with voters before their anticipated vote time frame (absentee, early voting, Election Day); and participate in and host events to spread awareness for MI Supreme Court candidates and keep voters excited about the election.

By informing voters about the power of a pro-voter Supreme Court, and the havoc that election deniers and conspiracy theories could bring to the bench, we will secure a Supreme Court that consistently reaffirms the political power of all Michiganders.