LANSING, Mich. (March 24, 2021) — Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) has issued the following statement after Michigan Senate Republicans today announced an election reform bill package aimed at suppressing voting rights in Michigan, much like the assault on voting rights by GOP-controlled legislatures taking place across the country:
“The Michigan Senate Republicans’ latest attempt to strip Michiganders’ access to their Constitutional right to vote is an unconscionable resurrection of Jim Crow designed to keep Black and Brown Americans from fully participating in the democratic process. These bills will do nothing but limit access to voting booths and disproportionately affect these communities, while further perpetuating the institutional, systemic racism we live with every day. It is nothing short of racial terrorism and an attempt to create voting apartheid.
“It is shameful that even after the 2020 election was declared the most secure in our country’s history, Senate Republicans have resorted to such shoddy bills in a desperate attempt to hold onto power. That a political party in this country would turn to subverting even the basic tenet of a democratic republic — the right to vote — is pathetic. Introducing bills that violate the right of people to vote and restricting their access to the ballot box is electoral violence and we must prevent this electoral terrorism at all costs.
“I will do all I can to continue expanding every voter’s right and access to the ballot box, no matter what they look like or where they come from. I am appalled and disgusted by my Republican colleagues who introduced such racist legislation for the sake of a power grab, especially when there’s real work to be done — like fighting COVID and funding schools, to name just two. Republicans can battle for the ballot all they want, but they’re fooling themselves if they think the power of voters’ voices will be suppressed by such shady tactics like this.”
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