LANSING, MI — Two associations representing Michigan clerks are calling for lawmakers to put politics aside in favor of bipartisan changes to the state’s election procedures.
A letter signed by Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark, president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks and Menominee County Clerk Marc Kleiman, president of the Michigan Association of County Clerks, laid out what needs to happen before the November 2022 election this fall.
“As we face another major election year with insufficient funding, continued high volume of absentee voting, and increased scrutiny due to the 2020 cycle, we need our leadership to focus on problem-solving rather than political wins and losses,” leaders wrote in their letter.
“There is no doubt that Americans are divided over the past election; but improvements that lead to better run elections have the power to lessen the tensions of mistrust and unite us in a common goal of accessible and secure elections.”
Bipartisanship has been absent from conversations regarding election rule changes since the November 2020 election, when former President Trump and his remaining allies cast doubt on the election results through a series of unfounded allegations that have failed to hold up in courtrooms across the nation. Though most Republicans in the Michigan Legislature concede President Joe Biden won fairly, they remain committed to overhauling voting laws based on concerns expressed by those within their base who do not trust the November 2020 election results.
“Countless hours have been spent discussing and debating bills, which have either stalled in legislative committees or been vetoed,” the letter stated. “Now is the time for state leaders in the executive and legislative branches to set aside their agendas and come together to consider reasonable improvements that will benefit our voters.”
With campaigns already underway, there’s not much time to pass sweeping legislation. Clark and Kleinman offered lawmakers the following proposals as a starting point for making improvements:
• Allow for a functional structure to offer early voting as an option for Michigan voters.
• Provide funding assistance for the staff and infrastructure, including dropbox security and postage costs. Additional support is needed to process an over 100% increase in the number of absentee ballots statewide since Proposal 18-3 and the COVID-19 pandemic, clerks say.
• Allow for the secure and transparent pre-processing of absentee ballots to provide accurate and timely election results. The model exists in 19 other states that currently process mail-in ballots prior to election day.
• Require both training and reasonable access for election challengers.
• Ensure the fullest transparency possible by requiring post-election audits to be public.
• Allow additional time for clerks to audit and certify our statewide primary election by moving the primary from August to June. This additional time gap is in line with 31 other states and will allow more time to program and proof ballots for the general election.
• Allow clerks to better clean Michigan’s voter rolls by removing deceased voters more quickly, continuing to eliminate the records of voters who move out of state and requiring a mandatory cancellation of voters who have been flagged in the system following the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson echoed calls for reform from the clerks association leaders in a statement Monday.
“I’m so proud of Michigan’s hardworking local election clerks for taking a stand, demanding investment in our elections, and calling for fact-based, data-driven policymaking,” Benson said in a statement. “It’s time for Michigan’s legislative leaders to stop acting on misinformation, listen to the experts, and strengthen our elections.”
Republicans have been attempting to overhaul the state’s election laws since introducing legislation in March. Evocations of the Civil Rights movement and accusations of racism and voter suppression from Democratic officials and liberal activists followed the bills through the House and Senate before getting vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Read more: Whitmer vetoes election bills she says perpetuated ‘Big Lie’
“Consider the pressure on frontline election administrators: zero increase in state funding, no pre-processing of absentee ballots to ensure more timely and accurate tabulation and no substantive changes to address voter concerns,” the clerks said in the letter.
These combinations of factors foster voter mistrust in the election process, Clark and Kleiman wrote.
“There is no doubt that Americans are divided over the past election; but improvements that lead to better run elections have the power to lessen the tensions of mistrust and unite us in a common goal of accessible and secure elections. Our voters deserve a good faith effort by state leaders to make that happen,” Clark and Kleiman wrote in the letter.
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