By Dawson Bell, Detroit Free Press

Opponents of Michigan’s beefed-up emergency manager law are headed for the state Court of Appeals after a state elections panel declined by deadlock Thursday to place a referendum on the law before voters in November.

Herbert Sanders, attorney for the group Stand Up for Democracy, which collected 203,000 petition signatures to put the issue on the ballot, said he would file an appeal of the Board of State Canvassers’ decision within a week.

The canvassers split 2-2 along party lines (Democrats supporting and Republicans opposed) after hearing exhaustive testimony on a single point of contention about the adequacy of the petitions — whether the typeface used on a heading met a statutory size requirement.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120427/NEWS06