November 2nd, 2021

Governor Whitmer vetoed three elections bills purportedly aimed at strengthening voter ID requirements. The proposed legislation, Senate Bills 303 and 304, along with House Bill 5007 passed along partisan lines. Democratic lawmakers opposed the bills on the grounds that they would have made it harder to vote, especially for marginalized communities, while not actually solving any real election issues. Together, the bills would have tightened voter ID requirements on election day, removed important and popular voting options for voters who do not have their ID with them on election day, and removed important funding options for local clerks to conduct elections. 

The three vetoed bills are similar to those passed in other states as part of a nationwide GOP-led effort to roll back voting access and options, and have been associated with the widespread and false voter fraud narratives peddled by Donald Trump and his supporters in the 2020 elections. These allegations of voter fraud have been debunked numerous times, including in a senate elections committee report authored by Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan). Arbitrary voter regulations that put downward pressure on voter participation are not only harmful to the state’s democratic process, but move in the opposite direction demanded by the voting public, as was clearly demonstrated in the case of Proposal 3 of 2018. Fraud is not an issue in Michigan elections, and voters want more convenient access to the ballot; not less.  The Governor was correct to veto these unwarranted bills.   

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