Michigan Election Administration Roundup: May 14, 2021

Oftentimes, when my late mom saw someone try to make a bigger deal than necessary about something, she’d show her lack of enthusiasm by letting out a sarcastic “whoop-de-do.”

I thought about that when I read a Michigan Senate proposal for early voting, which I discuss below. But first:

Redistricting public hearings

Under Michigan’s Constitution, the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission must conduct at least 10 hearings before they start drawing maps. They held their first two hearings in Jackson and Kalamazoo this week, each of which saw testimony from dozens of participants. Two more will be held each week until July 1.

For the People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act

The Senate met this week to consider the For the People Act, which would revolutionize how elections are run in this country. The bill would do a lot of things that we already implemented in Michigan in 2018: Same-day voter registration, automatic registration (unless the person declines), audits, and redistricting by independent commissions. These proposals are very popular across demographics and party lines. Republicans who oppose these will be going against their electorates in both primary and general elections.

Meanwhile, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) expressed support for a more measured, but certainly necessary, proposal: the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Named for the late congressman and civil flights activist, the bill would reinstate key laws that were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013.

Changes for challengers?

Here in Michigan, the Senate Elections and Government Reform Committee met to consider several more bills in the Republicans’ 39-bill voter suppression package. The bills on this week’s agenda largely centered around election challengers.

Senate Bill 279 would allow far more challengers in absentee vote counting boards — one challenger per party per 2,999 absentee ballots. In Detroit last fall, over 174,000 people voted absentee — which would’ve allowed 58 challengers from each party. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office notes that “total ballot count is unknown prior to counting, and this volume of challengers could be unmanageable.”

Under Senate Bill 290, only political parties and candidates could appoint challengers.

Senate Bill 292 would require the Secretary of State to establish a training curriculum for election challengers. This is one of those areas in which I could trust the current Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, but not a secretary of state with a more adverse agenda.

Senate Bill 309 would specify certain rights of election challengers. Benson’s office says that under this bill, challengers would have “stronger protections than poll workers,” which would “lengthen voting lines and enable more improper challenges that could disenfranchise eligible voters.”

Early voting? Whoop-de-do.

Senate Bills 300 and 301 would establish a whopping nine hours of early voting on the second Saturday before an election. You read that right: just nine hours. Most states with early voting have much longer early voting periods. Another problem is that cities and townships could open as few as one early voting location — which might work for many cities and townships, but not for larger municipalities.

How many Democrats and Republicans in each polling place?

Under current law, someone who wishes to work the polls must declare which political party they support. Each precinct in the state must have at least three poll workers, including at least one Democrat and one Republican. (A polling place can also have a Green, a Libertarian, etc.) Certain Election Day activities at the polling place require involvement by two different poll workers of different political parties.

Senate Bill 294 would change that so that for every two poll workers from one political party, there must be at least one from the other major party. That might be workable in some jurisdictions, but in some places there are so few Republicans (like Detroit) or so few Democrats (like in much of the northern Lower Peninsula) that this balance would be very difficult to achieve.

The Senate Elections and Government Reform Committee considered this bill but did not vote it out to the full Senate.

The week ahead

This coming Thursday (May 20) is an important day for cities and townships with elections on August 3. Starting Thursday, local clerks will have to accept absentee ballot applications from voters wishing to vote absentee for this election. (The ballots themselves will be sent in late June.)

Expect another Senate hearing on more bills in the Republicans’ 39-bill package. Also, the ICRC’s next two hearings will take place in Marquette and Gaylord.