There are at least three things happening at once that may impact the future of voting for all Michigan citizens. The League of Women Voters of Michigan is working to monitor what is happening, educate our members and the public, and advocate on your behalf.
On March 24, the Senate Republicans introduced a package of 39 bills and assigned them to the Senate Elections Committee, and Senator Johnson added a new bill, SB 334. The bills are SB 273 through SB 311, and SB 334, and they are available at www.legislature.mi.gov. The League has positions on all of the bills and detailed information is available at www.lwvmi.org.
Then, on March 26, to preempt a veto by the Governor, the Michigan Republican Party announced that there will be a citizens' initiative petition weaving together the Senate Republican bills. This would allow the legislature to adopt the initiative as a new law and avoid a veto by Governor Whitmer.
At the same time, the House and Senate are going through the appropriations process for the Department of the Secretary of State. During the process, the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate are adding amendments and appropriating money to the budget bills (HB 4398, SB 82) that adversely impact our election system.
The Senate Elections Committee has held three hearings on 15 of the 39-bills package. The only vote taken by the committee was to adopt a substitute for SB 286 to change the time for closing drop boxes from 5 p.m. on the day before the election to 5 p.m. on election day. Essentially, the bills are in the same place as when they were introduced at the end of March.
The LWVMI is monitoring everything that is happening, providing testimony at hearings (available on the LWVMI website), and working with coalition partners to assure these proposals are defeated.
It is essential for you to continue to contact your Senators to let them know you oppose the Senate Republican Voter Suppression bills. The LWVMI will send out action alerts as the bills move to votes in the Senate.