Fixing Michigan’s Democracy
Freedom, Accountability, Integrity & Representation
Michigan deserves public institutions people can rely on — institutions that are transparent, accountable, and focused on delivering real results.
Today, many residents feel government is too influenced by money, too slow to respond, and too difficult to navigate. Even when elections are secure and public servants work hard, trust can erode when systems feel outdated or disconnected from everyday life.
The Michigan FAIR Plan is a comprehensive strategy to modernize democracy, strengthen ethics enforcement, protect civil liberties, and ensure public power is exercised responsibly.
By increasing transparency in political spending, creating stronger independent oversight, expanding democratic participation, and modernizing election administration, Michigan can build a government that is more responsive to residents, more accountable in its decisions, and more stable for the future.
A stronger democracy is not just about rules — it is about restoring confidence that government serves the public interest.
Why Reform Is Necessary
Michigan residents are experiencing rising costs, growing inequality in political influence, and declining trust in public institutions.
When powerful interests dominate policymaking and elections are decided by narrow turnout or large financial contributions, communities feel disconnected from decisions that shape their future.
The Michigan FAIR Plan restores balance by strengthening democratic participation, enforcing ethical governance, protecting civil rights, and ensuring public institutions remain accountable to the people they serve.
These reforms are designed to make Michigan’s government more transparent, more representative, and more resilient in a rapidly changing political and technological landscape.
The FAIR Plan will:
Enforce integrity
Modernize elections
Rebalance political power
Open government to the public
What Residents Will Notice
The FAIR Plan is designed to make government work better in everyday life — not just during election season.
Residents will experience:
clearer information about how political campaigns are funded and who is influencing major decisions
faster and more independent investigation of ethics complaints and corruption allegations
modern, easier-to-use voting systems and expanded access to secure absentee and early voting options
improved transparency tools that make it easier to track legislation, public spending, and state performance
stronger protections for personal data and civil liberties in a digital era
greater opportunities to participate in public decision-making through modern civic engagement platforms
Implementation will be coordinated through the Department of State with targeted modernization grants to local election jurisdictions. These changes will make government feel more open, more responsive, and more trustworthy.
Elections That Reflect Voters — Not Big Donors
Michigan will strengthen democratic participation through targeted election reforms.
Ranked-choice voting will be introduced first in state legislative and congressional primaries through statutory reform, with expansion to general elections considered following independent performance evaluation and, if necessary, constitutional amendment.
RCV ensures candidates must build broad support rather than rely on divided vote splits or extreme primary electorates.
Additional reforms include:
Expanded early voting access
Automatic voter registration modernization
Improved ballot access for candidates
Today
Low-turnout primaries often decide elections
Candidates win with narrow plurality support
Big donors dominate campaign fundraising
Under the FAIR Plan
Candidates must earn majority support in primaries
Small-donor public matching strengthens grassroots campaigns
Elections are more competitive and representative
Phased ranked-choice voting begins in primaries, with future implementation in general elections after system evaluation.
The Policy
Clean Campaigns and Democratic Integrity
Big-money politics discourages competition and limits who can run for office.
Michigan will establish a voluntary public campaign financing system that allows candidates to run competitive campaigns powered by small donors instead of large private contributions.
Candidates who opt into the system will agree to spending limits and enhanced disclosure requirements in exchange for public matching funds.
Michigan will strengthen disclosure rules through phased statutory reforms implemented over multiple election cycles to ensure compliance systems and digital reporting infrastructure are fully operational before new requirements take effect.
Key mechanisms include:
Small-donor matching funds
Spending caps tied to participating candidates
Independent enforcement authority
Real-time campaign finance transparency
Dedicated democracy integrity revenue streams will fund the system, including:
Corporate political spending disclosure fees
Lobbyist registration modernization fees
Ethics enforcement penalties
Modest legislative appropriations
This ensures elections are decided by voters — not by wealth.
Today
Campaigns depend on wealthy donors
Low-turnout primaries decide outcomes
Limited oversight of misconduct
Opaque political spending
Public distrust of institutions
Under the FAIR Plan
Candidates can rely on small-donor matching
Ranked choice voting increases participation
Independent ethics enforcement
Full disclosure of major expenditures
Transparent and accountable governance
The Policy
Small-donor matching public financing for state elections.
CLEAR Boards:
Community Law Enforcement Accountability and Review
Public trust in policing depends on real accountability.
Michigan will authorize independent civilian oversight bodies with investigatory and disciplinary authority.
CLEAR Boards would:
Investigate misconduct and civil rights violations
Issue binding disciplinary recommendations
Review department policies and training standards
Publish public accountability reports
Statewide baseline standards and funding support will ensure civilian oversight bodies have real investigative capacity rather than symbolic authority.
Independent CLEAR Boards with subpoena power and disciplinary authority.
The Policy
Protecting Civil Rights and Community Safety
The FAIR Plan establishes modern protections against civil rights overreach and abuse of detention systems. Michigan must be prepared to defend residents’ rights and personal data in a changing legal landscape.
Reforms include:
Ending for-profit prisons and detention contracts
Raising statewide detention standards
Creating a Data Rights Enforcement Agency to safeguard digital privacy
Limits on unwarranted data sharing
State-level data privacy protections
Strong limits on state cooperation with unconstitutional federal overreach
Investment in voting infrastructure security
Moratorium review process for large data-center developments
The plan establishes clear statutory limits on state participation in unconstitutional federal data collection or detention mandates.
Michigan will also create a State Guard election protection framework to support logistics and safety during high-risk elections.
A Democracy Protection Amendment safeguarding civil, digital, privacy and voting rights.
The Policy
Ethical Government That Serves the Public
New ethics laws will modernize transparency and prevent conflicts of interest.
Legislation includes:
Revolving-door restrictions for senior officials
Fair Contracting Act requiring responsible labor and pay standards
Legislative transparency reforms including public bill tracking and disclosure
Constitutional ballot access modernization
Local government ethics standards floor
Lobbyist registration modernization
Conflict-of-interest disclosure standards
Regular ethics audits
Public reporting requirements
Michigan will establish an independent Michigan Public Integrity Commission (MPIC) with dedicated enforcement funding, subpoena authority, and statutory independence to ensure consistent oversight across administrations.
The Policy
Independent statewide ethics enforcement authority.
Democracy works best when people trust it.
A fair system gives every Michigan resident a real voice.
The FAIR Plan will make Michigan the most transparent, accountable, and citizen-centered state government in America — proving that democracy can be modern, trustworthy, and effective.
Implementation Timeline
Michigan will implement the FAIR Plan in phases, but the first phase should be ambitious.
The goal of the initial omnibus is to deliver visible democratic reforms early — not years from now. That means combining ethics enforcement, campaign finance reform, election modernization, civil-rights protections, police accountability, and public transparency into one coordinated first move.
The first phase focuses on the fastest wins: creating real independent oversight, reducing the influence of big money, improving voter access and election administration, and establishing stronger protections for civil rights, privacy, and public accountability.
Later phases expand participation, deepen enforcement capacity, modernize public transparency systems, and evaluate broader structural reforms such as future ranked-choice voting expansion.
The purpose is simple: restore trust, protect rights, and make government more accountable to the people it serves.
Restore trust, reduce big-money influence, protect civil rights, and make Michigan government more open, fair, and accountable.
The Policy
Phase 1 — Restore Trust and Build Real Accountability
Years 1–2
Michigan begins with the strongest near-term actions:
establish the Michigan Public Integrity Commission
launch voluntary small-donor public campaign financing
implement ranked-choice voting in state legislative and congressional primaries
authorize and fund CLEAR Boards statewide
modernize lobbyist registration and disclosure systems
begin real-time campaign finance reporting implementation
strengthen conflict-of-interest and revolving-door standards
create first-wave civil-rights and digital privacy protections
restrict state cooperation with unconstitutional federal overreach
invest in election administration modernization and public-facing transparency tools
What people feel first:
clearer rules and stronger enforcement for public corruption and ethics violations
less dependence on big donors in state campaigns
more competitive and representative primary elections
more visible public oversight of policing and government conduct
easier access to election information and campaign finance disclosures
stronger protections for civil liberties and personal data
Phase 2 — Expand Participation and Modernize Democratic Systems
Years 2–4
Once core enforcement and oversight systems are in place, Michigan expands participation and system capacity:
expand early voting access and ballot-processing capacity
strengthen election security technology and local workforce training
scale the Data Rights Enforcement Agency and privacy enforcement systems
expand public campaign financing participation incentives
improve legislative tracking, contracting transparency, and public reporting tools
strengthen statewide standards for ethics audits and disclosure compliance
evaluate the first rounds of ranked-choice voting and campaign finance reform
expand civic participation tools that make public decision-making easier to navigate
What this adds:
more secure and modern election administration
broader participation in voting and public life
stronger compliance with ethics and transparency rules
easier public tracking of legislation, contracts, and influence
better protection against digital privacy abuse and unaccountable data sharing
Phase 3 — Lock In Long-Term Democratic Reform
Years 4–8
Michigan then turns early reforms into a durable long-term framework:
consider constitutional adoption of ranked-choice voting in general elections after independent evaluation
expand long-term public transparency systems across state government
strengthen permanent enforcement authority for ethics, campaign finance, and civil-rights protections
update lobbying, procurement, and disclosure rules as political systems evolve
maintain regular public reporting on campaign finance, ethics enforcement, voting access, civil-rights protection, and oversight outcomes
Long-term result:
Michigan builds a democracy that is more transparent, more participatory, more rights-protective, and more accountable to ordinary residents than to moneyed interests.
How the FAIR Plan Fits into
the Michigan Reform Plan
The Michigan FAIR Plan is part of the broader Michigan Reform Plan to make public institutions more accountable, more transparent, and more responsive to ordinary people.
Economic reform and democratic reform go together. When government is dominated by big donors, weak oversight, low transparency, and outdated systems, it becomes harder to lower costs, protect rights, and deliver real results for working families.
By strengthening ethics enforcement, modernizing elections, protecting civil rights, improving privacy protections, and expanding public accountability, the FAIR Plan helps create the institutional foundation needed for every other part of the Michigan Reform Plan to succeed.
In the Michigan Reform Plan, democracy reform is not separate from economic reform. It is what makes durable reform possible.
Make Michigan government more transparent, more accountable, and more responsive to the people.
The Policy
Legislative Package
The Michigan FAIR Plan would be implemented through a coordinated legislative package covering ethics enforcement, campaign finance reform, election modernization, civil-rights protections, digital privacy, police accountability, and government transparency.
Key bills would address:
independent ethics and integrity enforcement
small-donor public campaign financing
campaign finance and lobbying disclosure modernization
ranked-choice voting in primaries
early voting and election administration upgrades
CLEAR Boards and civilian oversight standards
digital privacy and data-rights enforcement
legislative transparency and public participation reform
This package is designed to restore trust, reduce the power of money in politics, protect rights, and make government more accountable to the people.
Policy Details
For readers interested in the full legislative framework, the proposed statutory language for this policy is available below.
These documents outline how the proposal could be implemented in Michigan law and provide a more detailed view of the policy design.
The policy frameworks will continue to be refined with input from policy experts, healthcare providers, educators, and community leaders across Michigan.
Help Bring Fair Elections and
Accountable Government to Michigan
Call on candidates across Michigan to endorse the FAIR Plan
Share these reforms with friends and family statewide
Join the campaign to strengthen democracy