Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder issued a set of rare vetoes in regards to legislation sponsored by his own party on Tuesday. Three bills that were being pushed by state Republicans in order to change certain elections laws in the state were rejected by the governor on the grounds that he felt that they may cause "confusion" in regards to both voter registration and the voting process, according to MLive.
The bills in question dealt specifically with the issue of voter ID as well as required training for people trying to register voters. Snyder approved 11 other bills from the same legislative package, all of which also sought to institute election reform in the state.
Here is some of the key information regarding both the vetoed bills and the ones that Snyder signed into law on Tuesday.
* Snyder's decision to veto three of the bills met with criticism from many of his fellow Republicans, including House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall), who said that the bills were meant to institute "very reasonable" reforms to protect the voting process, as quoted by WNEM and the AP.
* Democrats and many advocacy groups, including the League of Women Voters of Michigan, praised his decision to veto the bills.
* The three bills that Snyder vetoed on Tuesday were House Bill 5061 and Senate Bills 754 and 803. He approved House Bills 4656, 5297, 5058, 5059, and 5062, as well as Senate Bills 751-753 and 823-825.
* The approved bills now all get re-labeled and numbered as Michigan Public Acts.
* House Bill 5061 and Senate Bill 803 would have required a person who was attempting to obtain an absentee ballot to both reaffirm their U.S. citizenship and show photo ID.
* Senate Bill 754 would have required a certain amount of training for individuals, groups, or companies that were seeking to help citizens register to vote.
* The 11 bills that Snyder approved dealt with a range of election reforms, from allowing military personnel to obtain an absentee ballot for local and state elections to improving the transparency of campaign spending by newly-established political parties.
* According to the Detroit News, one approved bill, House Bill 5058, reportedly was authored in response to part of the ongoing legal debacle involving former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who used funds from his reelection campaign to fight the legal battles stemming from his text messaging scandal. House Bill 5058 now makes it illegal for a political candidate to use campaign funds to fight legal issues unrelated to the campaign itself.
Vanessa Evans is a musician and freelance writer based in Michigan, with a lifelong interest in politics and public issues.
