One of the most dangerous aspects of legislation like H.R. 22 and House Joint Resolution B is that many voters are simply unaware of the threat. In the chaotic atmosphere of our current political climate, anti-voter lawmakers are trying to pass deceptive voter suppression legislation, which they market as election integrity.
That’s why Voters Ed Fund is stepping up to spread information about these attacks to Michiganders. By educating voters on the harm these policies will cause, we can build a grassroots line of defense against their passage.
As anti-voter lawmakers in both Congress and the Michigan Legislature began introducing new voter registration restrictions, Voters Ed Fund mobilized to educate voters by developing an in-depth policy resource page, hosting an educational virtual town hall, and leading a letter to the editor writing workshop.
The Stop the SAVE Act policy page contains detailed information about multiple concurrent threats to voter registration and access to the ballot, including the SAVE Act, Michigan House Joint Resolution B, the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights’ ballot initiative, and, most recently, the president’s Preserving And Protecting The Integrity Of American Elections executive order. The page explains not just what these policies are, but how they will actually affect voters and the chaos they would cause for election administrators. Critically, along with this valuable information, the page also describes specific actions that voters can take to stop these policies.
The Stop the SAVE Act Town Hall was one of our largest virtual town halls ever. Over 300 concerned citizens joined the town hall seeking more information on what the SAVE Act, HJR B, and the new executive order could mean for the future of voting in Michigan. One local clerk who joined the call told us that the chaos caused by the executive order and the threat of the SAVE Act is “really, really scary for us.” Our local clerks know that these proposals will confuse voters, make election administration more complicated and expensive, and inject chaos into Michigan elections.
Much of the call was dedicated to answering questions about what documentary proof of citizenship requirements could mean for voters in Michigan, and it was clear from the number of questions that even the most engaged voters aren’t confident that they would be able to navigate these proposed registration restrictions.
Soon after the town hall, Voters Ed Fund hosted a volunteer-led Letter to the Editor Writing Workshop, which was also one of the largest Letter to the Editor workshops we ever hosted. Attendees from across the state joined with the goal of learning about the issue and using what they learned to educate their local communities.
From the amount of engagement we’ve received on all of these resources, and the questions we’ve heard, we know that the issue of voter suppression and restrictions to our voting rights are very much a salient issue with voters right now, and we know that voters want to know how to defend themselves and their communities from these attacks.
Thanks to the education provided by Voters Ed Fund, voters are more prepared to resist misinformation and defend against these attacks on our voting rights.
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