‘Unlock Michigan’: 60,000 Activists Circulate Petitions to Curtail Governor’s Emergency Powers

Some 60,000 Michiganders are circulating petitions to curtail the governor’s emergency powers as Gretchen Whitmer uses them to issue unilateral coronavirus orders.

“Unlock Michigan” is a political organization seeking to repeal a 1945 law Whitmer is using to justify a “state of emergency,” which she has extended repeatedly since the coronavirus pandemic hit the state in March.

If the group collects a sufficient amount of signatures, the Republican-controlled legislature could vote to revoke the law. It would not be subject to the governor’s veto powers.

If the legislature does not vote, the repeal would appear on the November 2022 ballot.

Fred Wszolek, spokesman for Unlock Michigan, said a 1976 law, which allows a governor to act in an event of a natural disaster would remain. An emergency could last, at most, 28 days.

Wszolek told The Kyle Olson Show the group has been collecting signatures for about five weeks and 60,000 activists are helping.

“They don’t wait for instructions from headquarters; they’re out there just doing this on their own,” he said.

“It’s fantastic. It’s the most exciting grassroots thing I’ve seen in a while,” Wszolek said.

He said the activists are “really frustrated” because Whitmer “just seems to be calling audibles.”

Wszolek questioned Whitmer’s decisions and what data she could be using to issue her orders.

He said Unlock Michigan needs to turn in 340,000 valid petition signatures and has set a goal of 500,000.

That is because, he said, pro-lockdown groups are organizing on Facebook, “encouraging people to sign with fake names and to sign repeatedly so those signatures can be disqualified.

“Of course, that’s election fraud,” Wszolek told The Kyle Olson Show.

He said leftists are engaging in a “systematic conspiracy” against the effort.

Wszolek said it took Unlock Michigan about three weeks to collect the first 100,000 signatures and anticipated they will hit their goal “pretty quickly.”

The group has 180 days to collect the sufficient number needed.

Once the signatures are validated by the Board of Elections, the legislature has 40 session days to pass it. If they do not, it will go on the 2022 ballot — the same election as Whitmer herself.

More information can be found at UnlockMichigan.com.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on weekends. Listen to segments on YouTube or download full episodes at iHeartRADIO. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Parler.