By Bruce Laidlaw
A group calling itself Secure MI Vote requested the State Board of Canvassers to approve an initiative petition form that stated that the proposed law would “increase confidence in the conduct of elections by requiring photo identification before casting a ballot, to increase participation by providing free photo identification to anyone needing it to vote and to protect election integrity by prohibiting special interest funding of elections.”
State law already requires photo identification. The Secretary of State now waives the $10 for state ID cards in hardship cases. The proposed law would not change that, but it would add a requirement of proof of voter ID to use an absentee ballot. The law would only allow the fee to be waived if a person filled out a form demonstrating hardship.
The Board of Canvassers only approved the petition form after removing the false purpose statements and providing a brief summary which was true, but which could not really inform a petition signer of the effect of the legislation. The proposed law which must be attached to each petition sheet is five pages of hard text interspersed with strikeouts for eliminated text and uppercase for new text. No one could get any idea of what really is proposed while signing the petition.
The proposal is designed to suppress voting by absentee ballot in Michigan. A key provision states:
The Secretary of State, the clerk of a county, city or township, and all persons employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state are prohibited from sending or providing access to an absent voter ballot application for an election to an elector unless that elector has first requested an absent voter ballot application.
Absent an individual request, the Secretary of State or any other election official would be violating state election law by providing anyone with an absentee ballot application. Furthermore, the law makes it a crime to provide information on obtaining the form of application to vote absentee. The Secretary of State website contains a form that voters can fill out to make an absentee voter application. It would violate state election law to keep that service on the website.
The petition is currently being circulated and signed. With the backing of Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser, the petition drive will be well financed. Paid petition circulators should have little difficulty getting the 340,047 signatures needed to have the initiative certified by the State Board of Canvassers. Once that happens voters should not expect to have an opportunity to vote on the law. Under the Michigan Constitution a law proposed by initiative for which there are enough petition signatures for certification can be approved by the legislature without any vote of Michigan electors. A law so approved is not subject to veto by the governor. The proposal is also designed to prevent voter review by referendum. It contains a token appropriation. Michigan statutes containing appropriations are not subject to voter referendum.
In 2018, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved a law making absentee voting available to all electors. The Secure Mi Vote proposal would create a veto proof and referendum proof law that would cripple what the voters approved in 2018. If the legislature approves the law, Michigan will join the ranks of Georgia, Florida and Texas in passing voter suppression laws. Laws designed to keep people from voting are nothing less than attacks on our democracy.
(Bruce Laidlaw, a University of Michigan Law School alum, served as the city attorney for Ann Arbor from 1978-91.)
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