2006 Candidate Questionaire
Registration and voting
Michiganians must be registered 30 days prior to Election Day to be eligible to vote. To be eligible for an absentee ballot, voters must give a reason based on age, physical limitation or religion; or state that they will be away from their voting place on Election Day.
Do you support making citizens eligible to vote who register up to and including on Election Day?
Do you support issuing absentee ballots for any voters who request them, with no requirement to state a reason?
Some states have developed a system of early voting. During the days or weeks prior to Election Day, the voter may go to a designated location convenient to them – either the clerk's office, a polling place, or, in some cases, an electronic voting kiosk in a commercial center – and cast his or her vote. Early vote totals remain secret and are included in vote counts along with votes cast on Election Day.
Do you support early voting?
Some states have enacted a requirement that voters must show photo identification to be allowed to vote.
Do you support a requirement to show photo identification to vote?
Campaign finance contribution limits
Each election cycle individuals can contribute up to $500 to candidates for the Michigan House; $1,000 to candidates for the Michigan Senate; and $3,400 to candidates for statewide office. Independent political action committees (PACs) can contribute 10 times as much as individuals. Political parties can give 20 times as much as individuals to statewide candidates and the same as PACs to legislative candidates. There are no limits on contributions to state political parties or political action committees (except one PAC for each legislative caucus, where the limits are $20,000 per year). Corporations and unions are prohibited from giving money from their treasuries to candidate committees or PACs, although corporations and unions are free to establish PACs. There is no aggregate limit on what an individual can give to all committees.
Federal contribution limits are as follows: individuals can give $2,100 to candidate committees for each election (primary and general); PACs can give $5,000 to candidate committees for each election; individuals can give $26,700 per year to a national party committee; PACs can give $15,000 per year to national party committees; individuals or PACs can give $5,000 per year to a PAC; an individual can give an aggregate amount of $101,400 to all committees per two-year election cycle.
Do you think limits on individual contributions to state candidate committees should be increased, decreased, eliminated or left as they are?
Do you think limits on PAC contributions to state candidate committees should be increased, decreased, eliminated or left as they are?
Do you support establishing limits on contributions to state PACs?
Do you support establishing limits on contributions to state political parties?
Do you support establishing a cumulative limit on contributions from an individual to all political committees for an election cycle?
Do you support a limit on raising funds for a candidate committee once the candidate is term limited and cannot run for that office again?
Soft money and issue ads
Soft money refers to contributions to the state political parties that are not reported. Individuals can give soft money, and so can the treasuries of corporations and unions. Soft money cannot be used to pay for "campaign expenditures," but it can be used for election-related activity.
Issue ads are broadcast advertisements sponsored by the political parties or interest groups that include references to candidates for office but do not say explicitly to "vote for," "vote against," "support," or "oppose" a candidate. Issue ads are not considered to be campaign expenditures under Michigan law and, therefore, the financing of them does not have to be reported. Funds from corporate and union treasuries can be used to pay for issue ads. Approximately $20 million was spent in the 2000 through 2004 election cycles on political issue ads that were designed to define candidates for state office.
Contributions from corporate or union treasuries to federal political parties are reported, although the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA, or McCain – Feingold) banned most such contributions, along with unlimited individual contributions. BCRA also banned using corporate or union treasury funds to pay for broadcast advertisements that feature the name or image of a candidate for federal office in the weeks immediately preceding an election.
Do you support a requirement for state political parties to disclose soft money contributions?
Do you support a definition of "campaign expenditure" that includes broadcast advertisements in the weeks immediately preceding an election that feature the name or image of a candidate for state office, regardless whether there is explicit reference to voting?
Do you support a total ban on soft money contributions to state political parties?
Do you support a ban on soft money contributions to state political parties, except for narrowly defined purposes (such as getting-out-the-vote or building funds)?
Public financing of campaigns
Michigan has a partial public funding system available to gubernatorial candidates. Qualifying contributions (up to $100) are eligible for a two-to-one match from the state campaign fund if the recipient candidate agrees to limit spending to $2 million for the primary election. The state makes available $1.1 million for major party candidates in the general election if they again agree to limit their spending to $2 million.
In the last two gubernatorial election cycles some candidates have elected not to participate in the public funding system because they believed that the cost for a competitive campaign exceeds the spending limits. In this year’s campaign it is questionable whether either major party candidate will accept public funding for either the primary or general election.
Do you support revising Michigan's partial public funding system for gubernatorial campaigns by increasing spending limits?
Several states have developed voluntary full public funding systems in order to free candidates from dependence on interest groups for campaign funding.
Do you support voluntary full public funding for Michigan Supreme Court campaigns?
Do you support voluntary full public funding for state legislature campaigns?
Do you support voluntary full public funding for gubernatorial campaigns?
Campaign finance reporting
In non-election years, officeholders file only one campaign finance report for the calendar year. In election years, candidates file campaign finance reports 10 days before and 30 days after elections. PACs file reports three times each year: in July and October every year; and in April of even-numbered years or January of odd-numbered years.
Do you support requiring candidate committees to file quarterly campaign finance reports in all quarters when they are not required to file a pre- or post- election report?
Do you support requiring candidate committees to report within 48 hours each time they accumulate new contributions of some threshold amount?
Do you support requiring PACs to file quarterly campaign finance reports?
There are varying rules for reporting independent expenditures by PACs, parties and individuals. An independent expenditure that is made by a PAC or party within 45 days before a special election, and after the last scheduled pre-election report has been filed, must be reported within 48 hours. If an independent expenditure is made to affect a regularly scheduled election after pre-election reports have been filed, it does not have to be reported until the next regularly scheduled report. For PACs, that is at least 10 weeks after Election Day. Individuals who make independent expenditures have 10 days to report.
Do you support requiring all independent expenditures that are made after the last scheduled pre-election report to be reported within 48 hours?
Personal financial disclosure
The Center for Public Integrity has identified Michigan as one of only three states that does not require elected officeholders to disclose their personal financial interests.
Do you support a requirement for elected officeholders to disclose their personal financial interests?
Do you support a requirement for top administration officials to disclose their personal financial interests?
Ethics and enforcement
The state Board of Ethics is advisory only, having no enforcement authority. The Ethics Act does not cover the legislative branch.
Do you support the extension of the Ethics Act to cover the legislative branch?
Do you support giving the independent Board of Ethics investigative and enforcement authority?
Most violations of the Campaign Finance Act carry a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine.
Do you support more severe penalties for violations of the Campaign Finance Act to encourage compliance with the law?
Do you support conducting a small number of random audits of candidate, PAC and party reports?
Do you support conducting audits of candidate, PAC and party reports for cause?
Lobbying
Lobbyists are required to report expenditures for meals for any lobbyable official (elected officeholder or top administration official) that exceed $51 in a month. They are not required to report meal expenditures for a lobbyable official that do not exceed $51 in a month. Lobbyists are not allowed to give lobbyable officials gifts, such as tickets for entertainment, of value greater than $51 in a month. Lobbyists are not required to report that they have given a lobbyable official items valued at less than $51 in a month.
An exception to the $51 gift cap is allowed to pay for travel and lodging expenses for a lobbyable official who is engaged in "public business." Lobbyists are not required to report such travel and lodging expenditures unless they exceed $675.
Lobbyists report their expenditures twice each year. Lobbyable officials are not required to report lobbyists' expenditures made on their behalf.
Do you support a requirement for lobbyists to report their expenditures quarterly?
Do you support a requirement for lobbyists to report travel and lodging expenditures that exceed $51 for any lobbyable official?
Do you support a requirement for lobbyists to report all expenditures for meals, items of value and travel, from the first dollar spent on a lobbyable official?
Do you support a requirement for lobbyists to report their lobbying expenditures electronically, so all records are searchable immediately?
Michigan has no law prohibiting direct transition from holding an elected office to lobbying. Members of Congress must wait for one year before they can lobby former colleagues.
Do you support a mandatory waiting period that commences when a person leaves elected office before that person can become a registered lobbyist?
Do you support a mandatory waiting period that commences when a person leaves a top administration position before that person can become a registered lobbyist?
Term limits
Michigan's legislative term limits allow an individual to serve up to three two-year terms in the House of Representatives and two four-year terms in the Michigan Senate.
Do you think legislative term limits should allow longer service, shorter service, be eliminated, or stay as they are?
Redistricting
Decennial redistricting in Michigan is treated as normal lawmaking: the legislature passes a proposal that is signed into law by the governor.
Do you support the creation of an independent commission to draw legislative and congressional district boundaries in Michigan?