Moss’ Senate Elections and Ethics Committee began testimony today on bills to implement Proposal 2 of 2022, expand voting access and integrity in Michigan
LANSING, Mich. (June 7, 2023) — After six months of thorough, collaborative work, Chair Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) and his Senate Elections and Ethics Committee held its first hearing on a package of bills to implement the expansive election reforms that voters overwhelmingly passed and are outlined in Proposal 2 of 2022.
“With these bills, we are writing an historic new chapter for voting in the state of Michigan and taking significant action to protect, uphold, and expand voting rights in our state and allow Michigan voters more access to lawfully cast their ballots,” said Sen. Moss. “This proposal was approved by 60 percent of Michigan voters last year—a reminder to all of us that as Michigan elections faced some of the most intense scrutiny in the nation over the last couple of years, voting rights remain popular here. Despite those who push contrived chaos, Michiganders overwhelmingly want to reduce barriers to their ballots and increase access to voting, and that’s exactly what we’re doing today.”
Sen. Moss is the main sponsor of the bill package, Senate Bills 367–374, and testified on the legislation—and the intensive and interactive effort that went into crafting them—before the committee. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Senate Republican and Democratic bill sponsors also spoke to the importance of the bills and the game-changing impact they will have on elections and voter engagement in the state.
“Last November Michigan citizens turned out in record numbers and voted in a bipartisan manner to amend our state constitution and expand our election laws and every citizen’s voting rights. The bills discussed today carry out the will of the voters while providing the flexibility needed by clerks in counties, cities and townships of all sizes and geographies across the state,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “I’m grateful to Senator Moss and the many state legislators who are working thoughtfully and diligently with my office, the Bureau of Elections and clerks from the across the state to incorporate the insight of election officials into this legislation.”
Specifically, these bills would:
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Implement nine consecutive days of early voting for statewide elections starting at least on the second Saturday before the election and ending the Sunday before the election;
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Establish sentencing guidelines for certain early voting violations under the Michigan election law;
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Create a single application for voters to automatically receive absent voter ballots for all future elections;
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Provide for prepaid return postage on certain election documents and signature matching/curing requirements for absent voter ballot documents;
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Expand permissible options for photo identity used in voting-related purposes;
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Require each municipality in Michigan to have at least one accessible absent voter ballot drop box for every 15,000 registered voters in the area; and
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Increase the number of active registered voters in a single election precinct from 2,999 to 5,000 active registered voters for cities, wards, townships, or villages that are divided into two or more election precincts.
Other state and local election experts spoke to the importance of these bills and their role in expanding democracy. Favorable testimony on the legislation was also heard today from:
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Erica Peresman from Promote the Vote, the organization that crafted and shepherded Proposal 2 through the election process;
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Mary Clark (Delta Charter Township Clerk) and Chris Swope (Lansing City Clerk), on behalf of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks; and
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Vanessa Guerra, former State Representative and current Saginaw County Clerk, and Kyle Bostwick, Saginaw County Chief Deputy Clerk.
In addition to the legislation discussed today, Sen. Moss’ committee and the full Senate have moved other legislation related to the provisions in Proposal 2. In April, the Senate passed Senate Bill 259, Sen. Paul Wojno’s (D-Warren) legislation to allow for absentee voter ballots from military members, their spouses and voting-age dependents to still be counted if they are signed and dated by Election Day and received up to six days after the election. And earlier today, the full Senate voted to pass Senate Bill 339, legislation sponsored by Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) to establish a state-funded electronic ballot tracking system for both absent voter ballot applications and absent voter ballots.
A committee and full Senate vote on the bills are both expected soon.
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