Mary Strevel: What does Proposal 2 mean for Michigan voters?
What did Proposal 2 change for you as a voter in Michigan? It amended the Michigan Constitution to include voting and election provisions many of which are currently included in the Michigan election laws. Voting will be more “secure, modern and accessible.”
Michigan has experienced many more people using absentee ballot voting since the constitution was amended in 2018. Due to COVID, 60% of all ballots cast were absentee in the 2020 presidential election. In comparison, in previous years fewer than 25% of all ballots cast in the 2018 election were absentee. By passing Prop 2, voters protected their right to the absentee ballot and headed off attempts by a future Legislature of either party to suppress this right. This proposition requires a state-funded system for tracking submitted absentee ballot applications. It requires notification if there is a problem with your ballot. For example, if an election official has a problem with your mismatched signature, you will be given instructions as to how to fix the problem.
In 2018, Michigan voters adopted a new voting right for Michigan voters overseas or serving in the military. Prop 2 expanded those rights. As long as an overseas vote is received by 8 p.m. on Election Day the vote will be counted. This proposal would grant these voters a right to have these ballots counted as long as they are deemed “timely received by an appropriate election official within 6 days after the election.”
Proposal 2 will also allow for nine days of early voting in person for all statewide and federal elections. Voters do not need an excuse to exercise this right. This in-person voting will be conducted at designated voting sites. Voters who choose this option will have the same rights and the same requirements (photo ID) that govern in-person voting on Election Day. This proposal prohibits election officials from reporting results from early voting until after 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Prop 2 also allows counties, cities and townships to accept and use publicly disclosed charitable and in-kind donations to conduct elections. What this means is that local officials can use polling spaces such as churches and other organizations such as schools to conduct elections. Local governments have the final say on using these private organizations. This is really nothing new. Many of us are voting at our local schools, churches and fire departments.
State government will now pick up the cost of postage on absentee ballots. Also required will be at least one secure, state-funded absentee ballot drop box for every local municipality.
Included in this new law is clarification of audits of statewide elections. It prohibits members of political parties from having a role in an audit. Audit authority is granted exclusively to the secretary of state with the assistance of local election officials. “The outcome of every election in this state shall be determined solely by the vote of electors casting ballots in the election.” Audits must be conducted in public.
This proposal also made state laws regarding voter ID. The law stipulates a registered voter have a photo ID. A voter without a photo ID must execute an affidavit and would be allowed to vote on a regular ballot. With this new law as long as you are registered and your signature can be verified, you can vote on a regular ballot.
670,000 signatures were collected to get this on the ballot. Despite disinformation that this is an extreme measure, most of the elements of the proposal were already standard practice.
Mary Strevel is a member of Stronger Together Huddle, a group engaged in supporting and promoting the common good of all. She is a retired English teacher from Monroe and lives in Temperance. She can be reached at mcneil102@icloud.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Mary Strevel: What does Proposal 2 mean for Michigan voters?