A voting rights group announced Monday it has plans to collect signatures for a ballot initiative aimed at protecting access to the polls in Michigan.
The Promote the Vote 2022 ballot initiative would improve both security and access to the polls in Michigan, supporters said. The group will need approval from the Michigan Board of State Canvassers before it begins gathering signatures from registered voters.
Leaders from several Michigan-based voting rights groups offered their support for the Promote the Vote initiative in statements Monday.
Nancy Wang, executive director of Voters Not Politicians, argued that the Promote the Vote 2022 initiative will give voters more secure options for voting.
“Unlike other ballot proposals that would take away the rights already afforded voters; this proposal gives voters more secure options for voting in Michigan. And, unlike other ballot initiatives that intend to proceed through the legislature and avoid a vote of the people, our initiative will be on the ballot this November so that voters, not politicians, decide the future of elections in Michigan,” Wang said.
The initiative would ensure the outcome of Michigan elections is determined solely by the votes cast by Michigan voters by directing the Board of Canvassers to certify election results based on a count of votes cast and clearly establishing that the Board of Canvassers is responsible for certifying the results of an election.
Promote the Vote 2022 would also create a new early voting system, which would set nine days of early, in-person voting where voters will be able to feed their ballot into a tabulator. The initiative will also allow voters to request an absentee ballot be mailed to them for all future elections, without having to apply each time as long as the voter remains qualified to vote.
This story was originally published by MLive. Read more here: https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2022/01/promote-the-vote-ballot-initiative-launches-to-protect-voting-rights-in-michigan.html