Stop voter suppression bills
Published on June 10, 2021 in
The state legislature is considering more than 40 bills related to voting and elections that would inevitably put unnecessary hurdles between eligible voters and the ballot box. The bills, if enacted, would particularly threaten access for voters with disabilities, seniors, students, low–income voters, and voters in Black and brown communities. These proposals are in direct contrast with the new rights Michigan voters overwhelmingly enacted in a 2018 ballot initiative, which significantly expanded access to absentee voting and made it easier to register.
- Requiring those who request absentee ballots by mail to include a photocopy of their driver’s license or state ID cards.
- Reducing access to the ballot box by creating unnecessarily restrictive, unrealistic and unfunded security protocols for secure ballot drop boxes.
- Banning nonpartisan election challengers, who play an important role in ensuring election integrity by observing elections.
- Preventing votes from being counted by requiring counting to stop and results to be reported by noon the day after an election, while not allowing absentee ballots to begin being pre-processed more than 10 hours in advance of the election.
- Creating overly specific and restrictive signature verification rules which will result in valid votes being discarded.
If enacted, this legislation will have a range of negative consequences on election access by making it more difficult for local clerks to do their jobs, eliminating thousands of legal votes and dramatically hampering access to the ballot for many members of our community.
We need your help to protect every vote. Tell your legislators to oppose any legislation that would suppress the vote or prevent equal access to the ballot!
Why this is important to United Way
Advocating for voter rights and equitable access to the ballot is an important and longstanding part of our work at United Way. Ensuring the voice of our community is heard loud and clear by local leaders and policymakers is essential to the advancement of our mission.