Episode 145: ADM for November 16, 2022: Citizen Initiative Protecting Voting Rights Passes in Michigan

American Democracy Minute

Citizen Initiative Protecting Voting Rights Passes in Michigan
Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Promote the Vote 2022 Coalition - About Promote the Vote 2022
Channel 9 & 10 News - Promote the Vote 2022 Submits Nearly 700,000 Signatures to Secretary of State
Detroit Free Press - Michigan elections panel declines to send voting rights proposal to ballot
Michigan Supreme Court - Decision allowing Promote the Vote to be added to the ballot
ClickOnDetroit - 2022 election results: Michigan voters approve Proposal 2 to expand voting rights
Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause MI, Campus Vote Project, ACLU Michigan, American Promise MI, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS)

Today's Script: (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Legislatures in several states worked diligently since the 2020 election to make it harder to vote. Citizens in some of those states, like Michigan, have had enough and passed a citizens’ initiative to guarantee the freedom to vote.
Promote the Vote 2022 collected almost 670,000 signatures to get it on the midterm ballot. It overcame lawsuits and an attempt to block it in the Michigan Board of Canvassers, and Promote the Vote prevailed on Nov. 8th by a 60% to 40% margin.
Promote the Vote requires 9 days of early voting, increasing access for working, disabled and transportation-challenged voters. It recognizes the fundamental right to vote without harassment, and guarantees that Michigan voters serving in the military will have their ballot counted if postmarked by Election Day. Voters can provide a photo ID, or if necessary, a signed affidavit, in order to vote. It provides voters with a single application to vote absentee in all elections, and requires prepaid postage for absentees, and a secure drop box for every 15,000 voters.
To address concerns for post-election manipulation of results, it stipulates that ONLY election officials may conduct post-election audits, and that canvassing boards can only certify elections on the number of votes cast.
More tomorrow on another winning citizen initiative in Nevada.
We have links to articles on the initiative and Michigan groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.