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Michigan Republicans this week proposed changes to state election laws and came up with a veto-proof way to bypass Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to reports.
The 39 bills proposed by the GOP-led legislature would require identification of new voters, ban prepaid envelopes for absentees, limit the number of postal ballots and ban the Secretary of State from sending a ballot postal ballot unless requested, according to Bridge Michigan.
“If this legislation is not passed by our legislature, which I am sure will, but if it is not signed by the governor, then we have other plans to ensure that it is will become law before 2022, “Ron Weiser, president of Michigan’s GOP, said in a video on social media, according to The Detroit News.
“If this legislation is not … signed by the governor, then we have other plans to ensure that it becomes law before 2022.”
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser in Lansing, Michigan, Aug. 18, 2020 (Associated Press).
Weiser told the North Oakland Republican Club on Thursday that Republicans plan to bring together various parts of their voting bills in a petition initiative that the legislature could enact legislation without Whitmer’s signature if it obtains the 340,000 signatures required to participate. by ballot.
WHITMER VETOES BILL WHICH MAY LIMIT THE EMERGENCY POWERS OF ITS DIRECTOR IN MICHIGAN
The initiative would not allow the GOP to unilaterally change the state’s constitution, according to The News.
Republican State Senator Ruth Johnson called the proposals “common sense steps that will protect the integrity of our elections by safeguarding people’s right to vote and ensuring that our elections are safe and secure,” according to Bridge Michigan.
Whitmer has already made it clear where it stands on the invoices.
“I have a veto pen, and I am ready to use it for any bill that seeks to make voting more difficult for the people of our state,” she said, according to The News.
“I have a veto pen, and I am ready to use it for any bill that seeks to make voting more difficult for the citizens of our state.”
Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaks in Lansing, Michigan on February 24, 2021. (Associated Press)
Weiser said the new measures would give the state a chance for a “fair election in 2022”.
The proposed changes come after then-President Trump was lost to candidate Joe Biden in the state. Trump challenged the results in Michigan and several other states, saying voter fraud had occurred. But the arguments of Trump and his allies have failed to gain ground in the courts.
Michigan’s effort also comes as Georgia signed legislative changes that make absentee voting more difficult and Congress Democrats work on a bill that would expand voting rights by setting national standards.
Michigan Democrats claimed Republican efforts to secure the election were in fact voter suppression in disguise. Republicans say they are trying to prevent Democrats from centralizing elections, thereby removing control from local communities.
“The fact that the Republicans didn’t win as many races as they wanted does not justify their attempt to silence voters,” Michigan Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, a Democrat, said, saying that state elections had always been above the table. “This is how Michigan Republicans do business. First they lose. Then they lie. And then they find ways to suppress the vote, because even they know that when people vote, Democrats win. “
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Michigan Democratic Party President Lavora Barnes noted that 67% of Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that, among other changes, allowed absentee voting without excuse.
Weiser also pushed back calls for his resignation which began Friday after it emerged he called Whitmer and the female secretary of state and attorney general the “three witches” and added that Republicans must be prepared for “The fire at the stake” while they were at the North Oakland Republic Club, according to Michigan Live. He also referred to an “assassination” when referring to two members of the state’s Democratic Congress.
Weiser said he should have chosen his words more “wisely,” but said he had no intention of resigning.
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