A Petition to End Voting in Michigan
as We Know It
In Michigan, The Republican Party controls both chambers of
the Michigan Legislature, thus enabling them to propose any legislation that
they want. Like other Republican-controlled legislatures across the nation,
Michigan’s legislature has proposed changes in the process we use for voting.
They are calling their latest voting initiative “Secure Michigan’s Vote” and they
have a petition circulating to enable this proposed change.
It sounds good, right? Surely everyone wants secure votes.
The truth is that this proposal is intended to restrict
voting access, not expand it nor make it more secure. Like other Republican-dominated
states, the Republican Party in Michigan is hell-bent on reducing voters’
access to free elections. What they really want is to expand their control of
the election process and make it harder to vote. In some cases, Republicans are
asking voters for the right to overturn election results if the election doesn’t’
go their way.
But back to Michigan; The “Secure MI Vote” petition is a
deceptive effort to silence the voice of the people. It is not about election security.
It’s about making it harder to vote and more difficult for clerks to run
elections. It’s a continuation of the Big Lie that’s anti-voter and
anti-democracy. Michigan already has secure elections and strong, effective
voter ID laws that work as post elections studies have proved. We just had the
most secure, accessible, high turnout election in our state’s history. This new
initiative is simply a deceitful ploy to change the rules because those in the Republican
Party didn’t like the results of the 2020 election that they lost. The League
of Women Voters want us all to be aware of this deceitful plan and they are
explaining the details of a Republican-endorsed petition that is now being
circulated.
Here is what the new initiative is intended to do:
·
Require people to disclose partial social security
numbers when registering to vote
·
Eliminate
the option to securely verify their identity and vote normally
·
Require registered absentee voters to furnish
their driver’s license, personal ID, or partial social security numbers when
applying for their ballots
·
Throw out the ballots of registered voters who
can’t satisfy these new identity requirements, unless they go in person to
their clerk’s office
·
Prohibit election officials from making absentee
ballot applications available except upon the voter’s request
·
Ban volunteer time and charitable contributions to
help administer elections
None of that sounds like securing Michigan’s vote, does it?
Especially when our votes and the process of voting is already secure and free
from overt influence by election officials or poll watchers.
Perhaps most egregious of all, the Republican Party has
found a way to implement these changes to our election process without a vote
of the electorate. In an underhanded fashion, they have found a loophole in the
laws governing voting that they say will allow for this proposal to become law
without a vote of the populace. They say that if the petitions that are now
being circulated are signed by 4% of Michigan residents, their proposal will
automatically become law. Whoa! Another thing that needs to be fixed.
Surely, the Republican-controlled State legislature can find
something better to do with their time (that we pay for) than to work on
changing our voting process when there is nothing wrong with the current practice.
If a petition circulator sticks one of these petitions in your
face and asks you to sign, just say politely, ‘No thank you, I am a patriot who
knows better,’ and then walk away. Our democracy is at stake.
Oh! By the way, this is likely not to be the only attempt at
election interference. Stay vigilant.
