As this year’s session comes to an end, Michigan lawmakers are undertaking a last-minute to push a set of restrictive election bills. When read carefully and in conjunction with one another, it becomes painfully clear that these bills are nothing more than a thinly (and poorly) veiled, political attack on Michigander’s voting rights.
Many provisions in one bill, SB 369, serve no purpose but to take flexibility away from voters. Other SB 369 provisions erect unnecessary barriers in the path of election officials seeking to make voting more accessible and efficient, while also banning local government units from responding to their community’s needs. The following are just a sample of problematic provisions in SB 369:
- Effectively requires that all first-time voters who register by mail to vote in-person by removing first-time voters’ ability to present identification to specified officials in advance and then vote absentee.
- Prohibits clerks from operating satellite offices to issue, collect, or process absentee ballots. Also prohibits clerks from offering hours beyond normal, weekday business hours for absentee ballot-related services.
- Bans local units of government from adopting any resolution or ordinance on election activity conduct that is not permitted or expressly granted under state law.
Another bill, SB 13, eliminates straight party ticket voting. This bill does nothing to improve or modernize election administration and voters’ experience. In fact, it is likely to achieve the opposite: longer lines and confusion.
No-excuse absentee voting is supposed to remove barriers for busy Americans with work and family commitments. HB 4724 allows any eligible voter to apply for an absentee ballot. However, this bill breaks with common practice by requiring voters to apply in-person with photo identification. Thus, it leaves a critical hurdle to participation intact and will do little to actually serve the voters of Michigan.
Michigan already lacks many of the convenient and effective election features offered elsewhere. So it is especially shameful that lawmakers are focused on making it more difficult for hardworking Michiganders to make their voices heard in the political process, while also preventing officials from responding to their communities. Michigan would be better served by representatives who focus on improving election administration while reducing costs, and, importantly, ensuring a fair system that is accessible to every eligible voter.
Status: Local advocates, with the support of national organizations like Project Vote, are working hard to defeat these bills, and are calling on Governor Snyder to veto them if they do pass. SB 639 is pending in a Senate committee; SB 13 passed the Senate and the House (with amendment) so its returned to the Senate; HB 4724 passed the house and is pending in the senate. Both chambers are scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, December 15.
For more information on this issue, please feel free to contact Marissa Liebling, legislative director, at (888) 546-4173, ext. 310 or mliebling[at]projectvote.org.