With the highest voter turnout in more than 50 years, Michigan voters passed each of the three ballot proposals.

Proposal 1, which legalizes marijuana, passed with 55.9 percent of the vote.

Michigan is the 10th state in the nation and the first state in the Midwest to legalize recreational marijuana.

The proposal is a legislative change that allows Michigan residents age 21 and older to legally possess, use, grow and sell marijuana for recreational use. There will also be a 10-ounce limit for marijuana kept at residences, and any amounts over 2.5 ounces will need to be in locked containers.

Marijuana businesses will also have to be under license, and municipalities will be able to restrict or ban these businesses. The proposal will also change current violations from crimes to civil infractions.

Dean of Students Chris Greer sent out a campus-wide email on Nov. 7 to remind students that the use of marijuana on NMU’s campus is still prohibited despite its legalization because of the federal Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, which classifies marijuana as an “illegal schedule 1 drug.”

“Universities that violate this federal law risk losing funding, including some types of student financial aid,” Greer wrote. “As a recipient of Title IV financial aid funds, Northern must adhere to federal law and prohibit all schedule 1 drugs, including marijuana, from the campus, regardless of legalization statewide.”

Proposal 2, a constitutional amendment to create an independent redistricting commission, passed with 61.2 percent of the total vote. The commission will be comprised of four Democrats, four Republicans and five members who are unaffiliated with any major political party. Partisan officeholders and people with any relations to the officeholders will be restricted from participating in the
commission.

Proposal 3, which adds multiple voting policies to the Michigan Constitution, passed with 66.8 percent of the total vote. The proposal allows no-reason absentee voting, ensures military personnel and
Michigan residents overseas will get their ballots with enough time to vote and return the ballot, preserves straight-ticket voting, where checking one box will elect all the candidates in a certain party, and it will allow voter registration up to and on
election day.

ASNMU contributed to the high voter turnout by opening a free shuttle to the polls.

“We provided the shuttle this year in the hopes of making the polls more accessible for students,” ASNMU President Cody Mayer said in an email to The North Wind. “We consider every student that used this service to be a success because they might not have been able to get to the polls as easily.”

ASNMU helped the students in realizing how important their voices are, Mayer said.

“Projects such as our voter registration drive, getting students access to the SRA reports with a full month for comments, our mental health services survey and the voting day shuttle service to the polls are all great examples of how ASNMU has helped students realize their voice is important on a university, community, state and federal
level,” Mayer said.