Michigan Voter ID Amendment Faces Signature Hurdle
A recent push to amend Michigan’s voter ID and registration laws has stumbled as it attempts to make it onto the November ballot. The proposed amendment aims to tighten voting protocols by requiring voters to present proof of citizenship at registration, rather than simply affirming it under penalty of perjury.
Additionally, the amendment mandates that voters must show a photo ID at polling stations or present it to officials within six days post-election for their votes to be counted. Americans for Citizen Voting-Michigan, the group championing this initiative, submitted a significant number of petition signatures to surpass the required threshold, anticipating that some might be invalidated.
However, a recent report by the nonpartisan state Bureau of Elections discovered a shortfall in valid signatures based on a sample of 1,000. The necessary count was 629, but only 612 were deemed valid.
Kristin Combs, a strategist for the campaign, expressed concern over the findings, stating that significant resources were allocated to verify signatures before submission. The campaign intends to contest this result at an upcoming Board of State Canvassers meeting.
“We really feel like they missed the mark here and we plan to do everything we can to show them on Monday that the 700,000 Michiganders that signed our petition deserve to have a vote on it,” Combs said in an interview.
Various issues led to the invalidation of signatures, such as unregistered signers in the specified municipality, duplicate signatures, and discrepancies with state election records. Combs argued that some signatures were incorrectly dismissed.
“Some of these people may have registered to vote 40 years ago. And so, I think their signature probably looks quite different than it did 40 years ago,” Combs noted. She added that circumstances like signing in less-than-ideal conditions could also affect signature appearance.
To secure a spot on the ballot, Americans for Citizen Voting must persuade the Board of State Canvassers to validate at least 17 additional signatures from the sample.
The opposing group, Promote the Vote Action, which contested the sample’s signatures, is also preparing for the board meeting. Micheal Davis Jr., a leader in the opposition, remarked that the staff’s evaluation exemplifies effective “checks and balances.”
“When folks are unfamiliar with the Michigan Constitution and the rules that govern citizen-led initiatives, then they tend to run afoul of meeting the threshold,” Davis commented.
Regardless of the board’s decision, both parties anticipate that the dispute could progress to the courts.
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