The Headlines
House Joint Resolution B was put on the board for a vote in the Michigan House this week, and as expected, it failed to get enough votes to pass the state house. Additionally, a new voter suppression petition that is nearly identical to the one crafted by the Committee to Protect Voters Rights was filed with the Board of State Canvassers. The new initiative is backed by a national special interest group.
Our volunteers are fired up to fight back against these threats, and are already out in the field educating voters about the threat of these proposals.
Read on to learn the details of the new initiative and how VNP is combatting this and other threats.
The Details
- On May 1, the House voted on HJR B, but it failed to get the two-thirds majority vote necessary to pass. The vote was 58-48, with all present Republicans voting in favor and all present Democrats voting against.
- A voice vote to give the measure the option to reconsider did pass, meaning the resolution could come up for another vote later in the session.
- Another threat has emerged in the form of a second ballot initiative petition to require documentary proof of citizenship when registering or updating voter registration. The new petition is sponsored by the national special interest group “Americans for Citizen Voting.”
- The national group sponsoring this effort has forced similar proposals through other state legislatures to get their voter suppression policy on the ballot. Thanks in part to large national funding, the proposal has passed in every state where it was on the ballot.
- The Board of State Canvassers will decide the 100 word petition summary and vote for form approval at the May 16 meeting. The group has indicated that they plan to start collecting signatures on June 1, 2025.
- Similarly to the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights petition, this proposal is a naked attempt to force eligible voters to jump through hoops in order to access their ballot – another power grab by special interest groups who want to take political power away from the people.
- Voters Not Politicians is already hard at work combatting these attacks on Michigan’s constitution and our voting rights.
- VNP volunteers are out in the field, talking to voters and sharing important information about the threat of policies like HJR B, the SAVE Act, and the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights Proposal.
- Volunteers have spoken at recent events including the Marching for Our Lives rally in Monroe and the May Day Strong rally in Dexter.
- VNP volunteers are out in the field, talking to voters and sharing important information about the threat of policies like HJR B, the SAVE Act, and the Committee to Protect Voters’ Rights Proposal.
- VNP volunteers have also continued to spread the word to their community through Letters to the Editor published in local news outlets. Just last month, over half a dozen local publications ran LTEs from VNP volunteers warning about the threats of HJR B, the SAVE Act, and other similar proposals.
What’s Next
The only way that we can successfully stop these attacks on our rights is through education, grassroots collective action, and mass mobilization. That’s why Voters Not Politicians is preparing a robust response to disrupt the circulation efforts of whichever anti-voter petitions end up out in the field this year. This will include training volunteers to educate the public against these initiatives when they are seen in the field.
Together, we can protect the secure, modern, and accessible election system and the constitutional right to vote that Michigan voters chose.
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