LANSING, MI – Get ready for “a historic new chapter for voting in the state of Michigan.”
That’s what state Sen. Jeremy Moss called one of the most anticipated and consequential sets of bills to move through the statehouse this year: legislation to implement a constitutional amendment expanding voting rights and access.
Michiganders overwhelmingly passed that amendment – Proposal 2 – last November, but laws and regulations carrying it out need to be in place before the February 2024 presidential primary.
The Senate’s elections committee on Wednesday hit the heart of what’s to come by debuting eight bipartisan bills drafted in partnership with experts, clerks and Secretary of State Jocelyn Bensons’ office.
The biggest change by Prop 2 is an early in-person voting period, implemented by Senate Bills 367 and 368. This voting method – being able to walk into a precinct and physically cast a ballot before Election Day – is completely new to Michigan.
“Voters deserve more choices to vote in person than to attempt to squeeze in the time during the workday on Tuesday to go to a polling site and potentially face long lines of other voters trying to do the same,” said Moss, a Southfield Democrat and chair of the committee.
Voters would get at least nine days to access early in-person voting, ending on the Sunday before Election Day. If a clerk thinks their municipality can handle more days, they’re free to do more than nine, however local plans need to be approved by county clerks and county plans need to be approved by SOS Benson.
Communities can choose to host their own early voting site, partner with others for a joint site or contract with the county. Voters will be notified where their early voting site is, and they’ll still have the option of voting via absentee ballot or in person on Election Day.
For security, tabulators at early voting sites will be programmed just for that site only and won’t reused on Election Day. Voter roll pollbooks will also be updated before voting starts each day.
The early voting bills lay out chain of custody guidelines and penalties for breaking the law. Disclosing an election result from an early voting site before Election Day, for example, would be a felony with a maximum 5-year prison sentence.
“We hold the security of your vote sacred during the nine days of early voting,” Moss said.
Early voting will require more equipment – like tabulators and computers – plus more poll workers and robust voter education outreach. The Department of State estimates the cost of early voting for this fiscal year and next to be just over $45 million total, with $9.5 million expended by the state and $36 million by local governments.
The other six bills in the package heard Wednesday:
- SB 369 allows voters to sign one application and receive absentee ballots for every future election.
- SB 370 and SB 371 make changes to absentee voting, including establishing online applications, new ballot curing requirements for clerks and the notifying of absentee voters about their applications and ballots.
- SB 372 requires every city and township have at least one ballot drop box, as well as one drop box per 15,000 registered voters. The bill also modifies current drop box security requirements.
- SB 373 allows photo ID cards issued by a government entity or school be able to prove someone’s identity for voting.
- SB 374 increases the maximum voting precinct size from 2,999 to 5,000 active registered voters.
On SB 374, this optional consolidation of current precincts can save municipalities money and free up tabulators for early voting, Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark told lawmakers, adding that clerks will make sure resulting voting lines won’t be long because not doing so would be “political suicide.”
Expect the eight bills to pass out of committee next week and be on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk before the legislature leaves for summer break in early July, Moss told reporters Wednesday. He’s also open to feedback that may tweak the bills as they move through the Capitol.
The House’s elections committee will hear testimony Thursday afternoon on twin versions of the Senate’s Prop 2 bills. Moss envisions a mixture of the two packages being what Whitmer signs.
Not every change coming from Prop 2 is in the bill package heard Wednesday. Some of these have already been moving around the legislature. Notably, a bill to implement an absentee ballot tracking system passed the Senate Wednesday, and a bill giving military and overseas voters more time to return ballots was signed into law May 1.
Read more from MLive:
Give sexual abuse survivors more time to file civil suits, advocates argue
Holding phones while driving in Michigan illegal after Whitmer signs road safety law
See Michigan hospitals’ pandemic profits, buoyed by COVID-relief funds
‘Hate crime laws are murder prevention’: Nessel, Dems argue for statute change