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The Messy History Of Michigan’S “Purity Clause”, Joshua Perry
The Messy History Of Michigan’S “Purity Clause”, Joshua Perry
Michigan Law Review Online
So it’s worth asking: What does the Purity Clause actually mean? Can contemporary courts properly invoke it to justify restrictions purportedly aimed at controlling “voter fraud”? Should they?
Part I diagnoses the problem: Recently, Michigan courts have invoked the Purity Clause to legitimize voting rights restrictions without applying their usual tools of constitutional interpretation or scrutinizing the Clause’s complex history. As a result, voting restrictions have been justified by reference to a badly underexamined constitutional provision.
Part II examines the Clause with the tools that Michigan courts use to interpret the state constitution. This Part argues that neither the original …