For the past several months, Voters Not Politicians has been working in coalition to support a legislative reform to secure Michigan’s place as a national leader in safeguarding the right to vote.
The Michigan Voting Rights Act is the next step in strengthening Michigan’s democracy and removing voting barriers for voters with disabilities and voters of color.
In recent years, Michigan has become a leader in pro-voter, pro-democracy reforms, mainly led by citizen-initiated ballot proposals, like Proposals 18-2, 18-3, and 22-2. But even with all the progress we’ve made, communities that have been historically marginalized in our democracy continue to face additional barriers to accessing their constitutional right to vote. Black and Brown voters, low-income voters, disabled voters, and voters whose first language isn’t English continue to face unequal barriers to voting.
A recent audit of metro Detroit polling places conducted by Detroit Disability Power and the Carter Center found that while 25% of Michigan residents have a disability, 84% of polling places audited were inaccessible.
The Michigan Voting Rights Act (Senate Bills 401, 402, 403, and 404) will protect voters of color and voters with disabilities and strengthen Michigan’s democracy by:
- Providing new legal tools to fight discriminatory voting rules in court
- Expanding language assistance for voters with limited English proficiency
- Ensuring advance public notice of key voting changes, enabling voters to take action
- Providing important protections and assistance for voters with disabilities
- Establishing a central hub for election information to increase transparency and promote best practices
- Requiring municipalities where a court has found voting discrimination to prove that subsequent voting changes will not harm protected voters before they can go into effect.
The MI VRA builds upon the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other pro-voter legislation passed in states across the country. If passed, the MIVRA will immediately become one of the most comprehensive state-level voting rights acts in the country.
Implementing protections against discriminatory voting practices will shield voters from future attempts to undermine fair and accessible elections. The Michigan Voting Rights Act would also enhance and clarify protections for voters with disabilities or who otherwise need assistance to vote.
Voters Not Politicians has partnered with All Voting is Local Michigan, Promote the Vote, and ACCESS to host an educational event for faith groups and other organizations around the Mi VRA. We have also launched a grassroots toolkit for activists and organizations to use to spread the word about this important voting rights legislation, and hosted a Letters to the Editor workshop to encourage volunteers to advocate for this reform in local press outlets.
Over the coming months, Voters Not Politicians Legislative Liaisons will be meeting with their state senators and representatives to further advocate for the MI VRA package. We look forward to passing this pro-democracy reform before the end of this legislative session.
