Tell Your Michigan Senator to Vote NO on Voter Suppression Bills Introduced This Week

By MUUSJN on Friday, March 26th, 2021

URGENT ACTION NEEDED: CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATOR

BACKGROUND: This Wednesday, March 24th, the Michigan GOP introduced a package of 39 bills that constitute an assault on democracy. These bills suppress the vote and make it harder to cast a ballot. It’s part of a national effort to suppress the vote based on “the big lie” that the 2020 Presidential election was “stolen”.

Coined as “protecting election integrity,” these bills aim to make it harder to vote. Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey has expressed support for this legislations. Republicans state that these bills “will ensure election integrity and restore trust in the election system.” Democrats claim that the bills “attempt to silence voters.” Click HERE for more information.

Among other things, these bills would eliminate drop boxes, require all absentee ballots to be delivered directly to clerks, and make it more difficult for a voter to have someone deliver their ballot for them. For a full list of the bills, click HERE and scroll down to Senate Bills 273-311. In the meantime, Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson is working to advance legislation to increase access to voting. Benson’s Advance the Vote agenda can be found HERE.

The Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, the Michigan League of Women Voters, the Promote the Vote Coalition and Secretary Benson have all denounced the 39-bill package. Benson states: “Many of the bills in this package will make it harder for citizens to vote. Rather than introducing bills based on disproven lies and copied from other states, lawmakers should be codifying what worked in 2020. Michigan voters demonstrated they want our elections to be accessible in 2018 when they enshrined new voting rights in our state constitution, and again in 2020 when millions exercised those new rights. Everything we do should be based on protecting the right to vote, and too many of these bills would do the opposite.”

It is tempting to not worry about these efforts and to feel safe thinking that Governor Whitmer will simply veto any voter suppression bills. And this may be true. However, some say that conservatives are likely to respond to vetoes by activating a network of petition circulators to collect enough signatures to put these issues on the ballot. Then the Senate could adopt the legislation into law and bypass the need for the Governor’s signature. It’s important our Senators hear from us now.

YOUR ACTION IS NEEDED!

  • Call your Senator (To get your Senators’ name and phone, click HERE.)
  • Urge him/her to reject the 39-bill voter suppression package. 
  • Urge your Senator to pledge to support the Secretary of State’s reforms to protect our right to vote and to protect our democracy!

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