Michigan lawmakers and local governments seek the right balance on expanding voting rights

Over the past six years, Michigan has gone from 31st in the nation for election administration to second, as voters approved measures overhauling the state’s election laws and enshrining the right to vote in the state constitution.

Changes like no-reason absentee voting and nine days of early voting have expanded Michiganders voting options while additional options for voter registration — including same day absentee voting — have made it easier for voters to get on the rolls, with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, telling the Advance in May the changes in the state’s voter registration laws have had the greatest impact of the many changes to the election process.

While the new laws have garnered praise from local officials and national voting rights advocates, Democrats who control the Michigan Senate are pushing for additional protections for voters, introducing a four-bill package aimed at bringing aspects of the federal Voting Rights Act into state law and filling gaps created in the 1965 law, which has since been weakened by the courts.

“Last year, we spent really a lot of effort and time ensuring that our election administration officials have all the tools and resources that they need, not only for this very high profile 2024 election, but for every election moving forward. … Now we really have to focus not just only on the election administrators, but also the voters,” said state Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), chair of the Senate Elections and Ethics Committee as well as the sponsor of one of the bills in the Michigan Voting Rights Act.




https://michiganadvance.com/2024/09/15/michigan-lawmakers-and-local-governments-seek-the-right-balance-on-expanding-voting-rights/