Michigan residents without state-issued identification struggle to access financial resources and educational opportunities and safely get to work, school, and medical appointments. That needs to change.
Weiser already paid $200,000 to settle alleged campaign finance violations after it emerged that he paid party funds to a Republican to drop out of the 2018 Secretary of State race.
The House signature-matching provision was added as an amendment last month to a bill that’s main purpose is to do away with the option of voting without an ID by signing an affidavit.
Legislators want Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to resume “walk-in” service at branch offices. But Benson said House legislation is essentially satisfied by a “walk up” system in which customers can get an appointment, but perhaps not that day.
The measures come in response to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's controversial decision to shift her agency to an appointment-only system.
Michigan’s Senate extends expired licenses and waives fees in a bid to force Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to abandon her appointment-only system for branch services.
Jocelyn Benson says her department still needs $25 million from the state to get through a backlog of appointments for car registrations and license transfers caused by the pandemic.
Supporters say you need an ID to buy beer so you should need one to vote. Foes say eliminating an option allowing voters without ID to still cast ballots amounts to an illegal fee. The courts may decide.
Benson’s legislative testimony Tuesday followed criticism from Republicans and from some members of the public who waited months to get an advanced in-person appointment at SOS branch offices.
Republicans drop plans to require residents to mail a photocopy of their ID to apply for an absentee ballot. But they’d still have to give up some personal information to qualify.
Republicans want to increase confidence in elections by allowing partisans to take video and broadcast vote counting. Some fear that make it impossible to work — and could expose private information.
New records show 11,417 Michiganders voted without ID in November. Contrary to popular belief, they weren’t all in Democratic counties — and in almost all communities, no-ID ballots represented less than 1 percent of votes.
Jocelyn Benson writes that moving services largely online has improved customer service and satisfaction, but lawmakers need to work with her on more improvements.
A Republican reform would lock boxes at 5 p.m. on Election Day, rather than the day before. Clerks say that could make it hard to vote and create long lines.
Local officials in hundreds of Michigan communities installed more than 1,100 absentee ballot drop boxes last year, state data shows. Election officials say new regulations proposed by Senate Republicans threaten to limit the popular option in future elections.
