By Jamie Lyons-Eddy | November 8, 2021
Freedom to Vote Campaign Update
The so-called “Secure MI Vote” petition, which would make voting harder and restrict funding for local elections, officially began circulating on October 8th. Meanwhile, both chambers of the Michigan legislature passed a package of bills that mirrored the language in the anti-voter petition. We applaud Governor Whitmer, who fulfilled her promise to block any anti-voter legislation that reached her desk by issuing a veto on October 29th.
But these anti-voter extremists planned for the veto and are using it to promote their anti-democratic petition. They have made clear that they intend to use a provision in Michigan’s constitution to use signatures from just 340,047 Michigan voters to enact laws to put up new barriers to voting, without the approval of the governor or the voters.
That’s why Voters Not Politicians staff members and hundreds of active volunteers turned up the heat in October, spotting petition circulators and educating voters all across the state. In addition to completing 370 spotter and voter education shifts, we gave presentations to fourteen different groups, conducted a dozen volunteer training sessions, and contacted 73 new volunteers to schedule a volunteer shift and connect them with a field coordinator.
Volunteers set up tables at events like the Holy Bones Festival in Ypsilanti and Macomb County Pride Street Fair, and when they didn’t have a table, they walked around with clipboards helping Michiganders understand the threat to voting here in our state. We continue to find that most voters aren’t aware that some politicians and special interest groups are trying to put up new barriers to voting, or that those groups can get unpopular new laws enacted by signature collection alone.
So we are letting them know, both by talking to voters directly and by continuing to raise awareness through local, state, and national media. In September and October, Executive Director Nancy Wang and Voters Not Politicians appeared in more than 24 articles and video interviews, including five at the national level.
Take a look at our Freedom to Vote coverage on the VNP In the News page.
We need your help to spread the word about the toxic “Secure MI Vote” petition. You can sound the alarm in your community by writing a letter to the editor of your local publication. See your Field Coordinator or send an email to info@votersnotpoliticians.com with “LTE” in the subject line. Most importantly, you can talk to your friends and family so they aren’t duped by unscrupulous “Secure MI Vote” circulators.
