Some Michigan residents were among thousands rallying Saturday in the nation’s capital to protest a recent legislation they say suppresses voter rights, particularly for people of color and young people
Voting
Michigan’s redistricting commission began drafting new congressional and legislative maps on Friday and will do so through Oct. 8. This comes after the commission approved Thursday a process and schedule to draft the maps in a 10-2 vote.
A House panel released a new report on Friday that will help lawmakers craft legislation named after the late Georgia civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis that aims to protect voting rights across the United States.
The Michigan AFL-CIO drew up its own set of state legislative maps for the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) to consider before the panel begins crafting new U.S. House and state House and Senate district lines for the next 10 years.
The Michigan Senate Elections Committee voted on three bills Wednesday that could reform voting procedures to mandate photo identification being presented when applying for an absentee ballot or casting a ballot.
A Senate committee on Wednesday continued discussions on bills in a sweeping GOP voting restriction package that’s been widely criticized by voting rights activists and Democratic officials.
Dozens of Michigan company leaders spoke up Tuesday against a voter restriction package that was introduced by Republicans in the Legislature last month.
A U.S. House elections panel on Thursday heard from witnesses about the need to craft a new formula that identifies which states or jurisdictions have problematic histories of racial discrimination when it comes to access to the ballot box.
In Michigan, Republican lawmakers this week introduced a 39-bill package that would ban unsolicited mass mailing of absentee ballot applications, prohibit pre-paid postage on absentee ballot envelopes for absentee ballots, require a photo ID, curb the hours people could drop off their ballots in boxes and require video surveillance of such drop boxes.
The House passed sweeping voting rights, redistricting, campaign finance and ethics reform, late Wednesday night along party lines in a 220 to 210 vote, but the historic package will face an uphill battle in the Senate as no Republicans currently support the bill.
Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Monday rolled out a number of election-related initiatives, centered around expanding voter accessibility and strengthening election security.
The case brought by Michigan Alliance for Retired Americans against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, who said Friday she isn’t planning to appeal. Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens said Friday there was “affidavit evidence that many voters were in fact deprived of having their absent voter ballot tallied in the August primary.”
“Please understand, the promise of the 19th Amendment feels a little empty right now. The 19th rang hollow for many women in 1920, too.”
“All across this country in small towns and big cities alike, clerks and election officials are hard at work to take their part in this essential American tradition, but they need us to demand that our elected leaders give them the tools to do the job. We still have time to get this right. But the clock is ticking.”