LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- A broad ballot proposal that would change the makeup of state courts and the Legislature appears to have enough voter signatures to make the November ballot, state election officials said Tuesday.
That likely means the ballot eligibility of the Reform Michigan Government Now proposal will be decided in court. A coalition called Citizens Protecting Michigan's Constitution has sued to try to keep the proposal off the ballot.
The group, which includes the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, on Tuesday told the Michigan Court of Appeals the measure is too broad to be covered in a single ballot proposal. Opponents say the sweeping changes should be proposed either in a convention to rewrite the constitution or in a series of separate measures.
"What voters are being asked to do is take all 36-plus changes and vote them up or down in one proposal," said Peter Ellsworth, an attorney for the proposal's opponents.
Supporters of the proposal, backed by some Democratic leaders and labor unions, said it's perfectly legal to include all the changes in one initiative to alter the state's constitution.
"There is no scope limitation. There is no size limitation," said Andrew Nickelhoff, an attorney for Reform Michigan Government Now.
Nickelhoff said courts shouldn't get involved on constitutionality issues until after voters have had their say.
No matter which way the three-member panel of the appeals court rules, the issue is likely to wind up before the Michigan Supreme Court.
The proposal would change several parts of the state constitution affecting the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government. Opponents count at least three dozen changes, some of which they say could hand control of the Legislature and courts over to Democrats.
Pay for lawmakers, legislators and other elected officials included the governor would be cut under the proposal.
The size of the state Legislature would shrink, and a commission would be set up to establish new boundaries for House and Senate districts.
The current system tends to favor whichever political party controls the state House, Senate, governorship and the courts. Republicans dominated the process after the 2000 U.S. Census.
The proposed changes could lessen the GOP influence after the 2010 count by lessening the influence of Republican-controlled courts that review redistricting plans.
The measure would trim judges' salaries 15 percent, reduce the appeals court by seven judges -- most of them Republicans -- and kick two GOP justices off the Michigan Supreme Court.
The three judges on the court of appeals panel last week rejected a motion that sought to have some judges disqualified from hearing the case. Backers of the proposal didn't wanted judges would could lose their jobs included on the panel.
One of judges on the panel, William Whitbeck, would lose his job under the proposal. The other judges hearing the case are Bill Schuette and Patrick Meter.
It's not clear how quickly the panel might rule on the case.
In a report released Tuesday, state election officials estimated Reform Michigan Government Now supporters had collected about 415,000 valid voter signatures. That's more than the 380,126 signatures required to make the ballot.
The Board of State Canvassers could vote on whether to OK the signatures at a meeting scheduled for Thursday. The canvassers also will be asked to reject the form of the petitions submitted by proposal supporters.
Opponents say the petition doesn't properly list every section of the constitution the proposal would alter.
Reform Michigan Government Now says opponents are using procedural moves to try and block the proposal rather than debating its merits.