Cross-posted on BloggingForMichigan.com
With Michigan's voter-registration deadline rapidly approaching, time is running out for the legislature to make it easier to vote in November. Yesterday, State Senators Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor) and Gilda Jacobs (D-Huntington Woods) called for passage of "no-reason" absentee voting in Michigan.
Currently, the only voters entitled by law to receive an absentee ballot are those who over 60 years old, who are in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, who have religious objections, who plan to be out of their precinct on Election Day, or who need assistance at the polls are eligible to vote....
Senate Democrats point out that the law does not provide absentee ballots for people who work long days or odd shifts, have young children at home, have problems arranging, get sick or hospitalized, or have trouble getting to the polls for reasons other than those listed on the absentee ballot application.
Legislation has been introduced in both houses of the Michigan legislature that would allow all eligible voters to apply for an absentee ballot.
Here's where things stand. Last week, by a vote of 65 to 41, the House passed House Bill 4048 (13 pages, pdf), sponsored by Representative Martin Griffin (D-Jackson). Similar legislation was introduced last January by Senator Liz Brater (D-Ann Arbor). Senate Bill 12 (9 pages, pdf) was referred to the Senate Campaign and Elections Oversight Committee, chaired by Senator Michelle McManus (R-Lake Leelanau). However, Senator McManus has not even scheduled a hearing on the bill.
Senate Democrats point out that a majority of states--28 in all--allow no-reason absentee voting. Michigan's no-reason legislation is supported by Republican Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson (a Republican who ran for lieutenant governor in 2006), Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh and other city and municipal clerks around Michigan, the ACLU, the NAACP, AARP, and current and past state legislators, both Democratic and Republican, from both houses.
Why, then, is Senate Bill 12 still bottled up in committee? Republican obstructionism, pure and simple. It appears that Senator McManus and her GOP colleagues intend to run out the clock and leave obsolete and unnecessary barriers to voter participation on the books. One more reason to circle November 2, 2010, on your calendar and vote these merry men and women out of office.