Ypsilanti City Council voted to repeal an ordinance that requires landlords to distribute voting information to their tenants. The second reading passed on a unanimous vote. By repealing it, the city avoids fighting a lawsuit brought forth by five landlords.
The suit claims the 2018 ordinance violated the First Amendment because it is compelled speech. Michigan recently approved a wide-ranging voter rights amendmentto the state constitution, which will make voting more accessible.
John Barr is the Ypsilanti city attorney. He says the constitutional amendment will go a long way toward improving access to voting, so the case wasn’t worth fighting in court.
“We [the City of Ypsilanti] have limited funds. We have to devote those funds to the things that are most important for the voters, and if other people are doing the voter education, then, for our taxpayers, we have other things to do.”
Barr studied similar lawsuits in Minneapolis and East Lansing. Minneapolis fought the lawsuit and lost, costing the city thousands of taxpayer dollars. East Lansing repealed their ordinance and avoided a costly court battle.
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