Michigan Election Reform Bill Adopted by Senate; Help It Pass In the House

By MUUSJN on Thursday, September 17th, 2020

Urge Your Michigan Representative to Vote for SB 757 to Allow Ballots to be Processed a Day Early

CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE:

Click HERE to find the phone and email of your State Representative. Tell him/her:

  • Vote YES on SB 757;
  • It allows clerks to handle a large influx of absentee ballots by starting a day early;
  • It allows tired poll workers to work in shifts rather than staying long hours.

A record number of absentee ballots were cast during the 2020 primary as a result of people taking advantage of Michigan’s new no reason absentee ballot law during the COVID-19 pandemic. Election activists, clerks and legislators from both parties are concerned that the outcome of close races could delayed three or more days, creating election related chaos.

Senator Ruth Johnson (R), a former clerk and sponsor of SB 757, said starting the ballot process a day early should be a priority since “there may be 3 million absentee votes in November, which is double our last highest amount almost”. In addition to creating uncertainty with certain close races, Senator Johnson said additional processing time means that poll workers will have to work longer shifts, perhaps 20 hours or more. Starting a day before the election will allow more reasonable shifts for poll workers on election day.

Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson urged legislators to support SB 757. This bill was adopted on 9/15 and was transferred that same day to the House Elections and Ethics Committee chaired by Rep. Julie Calley (R- 87th District). MUUSJN was informed that the bill will retain its same number (SB 757) in the House. Other committee members are: Jason Sheppard (R-56th Dist); Pamela Hornberger (R-32nd Dist); Steve Marino (R-24th Dist); Brad Paquette (R-78 Dist); Vanessa Guerra, Minority Vice Chair (D-95th Dist); and Kara Hope (D-67 Dist).

SB 757 will allow a clerk in a city or township with a population of at least 25,000* people to perform certain pre-processing activities on the day before the election if notice has been given to the Secretary of State at least 40 days before election day. This would not involve tabulating absentee ballots but would mainly involve removing ballots from an outer envelope. *Correction:The minimum population was incorrectly listed as 25 million in a previous email.

CALL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE:

Click HERE to find the phone and email of your state Representative. Tell him/her:

  • Vote YES on SB 757;
  • It allows clerks to handle a large influx of absentee ballots by starting a day early;
  • It allows tired poll workers to work in shifts rather than staying such long hours.

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