UPDATE:
A state board in Michigan has given an anti-abortion petition drive another chance to show it's gathered enough names to force a vote on whether to ban the intact dilation-and-extraction procedure. The decision means the Michigan Bureau of Elections will pull a larger random sample of signatures. That larger sample will be used to determine if the campaign has reached the legal threshold of names. The Michigan Values Life drive wants to put a veto-proof measure before the Legislature.
ORIGINAL POST:
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's elections bureau says a group failed to collect enough petitions to put veto-proof legislation before the Republican-led Legislature that would prohibit a second-trimester abortion procedure. Monday’s report was a blow to the Michigan Values Life committee. It submitted 380,000 signatures in December, 40,000 more than needed. Staff in the elections bureau, however, estimated there are only about 333,000 valid signatures — 7,276 short. The staff recommends that the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers deny certification when it meets Thursday. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vowed to veto identical legislation. But a governor’s veto can be bypassed through the initiative process.