Legislators move to approve changes mandated by last year’s Proposal 2, allowing clerks to offer it as long as 29 days. The legislation is expected to head soon to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
They want it so that people in areas such as Detroit, where there are often long lines due to lack of sufficient number of voting precincts, aren't willing to spend an entire day in line to vote.
I've always lived in either farming communities or relatively wealthy areas. The longest I've ever had to wait was about 30 minutes, during Obama's re-election voting.
I can't imagine having to wait hours upon hours. The whole situation makes no freaking sense to me at all.
And then I realized that they don't have a separate voting precinct for every few hundred people in the areas that aren't as well off. They have one for many thousands of people. Instead of every church and school being a voting location, people have to go miles, and wait in insanely large lines.
And that's what the Republicans want for the areas where "certain" people are living.
My dad was so triggered about "mail in voter fraud". He couldn't handle when I told him that my precinct called me and asked me to come back and re-sign my ballot, because they flagged my signature. I'm really just a sloppy cursive writer and don't sign things often.
I recently moved to Michigan from Colorado. I wish Michigan would adopt mail in voting. It was extremely convenient to receive my ballot in the mail, complete it in the comfort of my home and mail it back or drop it off. They had a tracking system so that I can confirm that my ballot was accepted (or not). And if it wasn't for whatever reason, I could follow up on it, or even vote in person.
This is good news regardless, at least I'll have a few days to get to the polls.
We do have it. Back several years when it came up, it was passed with bi-partisan support. Now that the GOP sees absentee/mail-in voting as a problem (especially during Covid, when people didn't want to congregate in line) they've rallied against it. But with the current make up of the Michigan legislature, I doubt they'll be able to pass restrictions.
I dislike "early voting." But I support any laws that make voting easier for voters.
Why do I dislike early voting? I want to make sure the candidates I want to vote for maintains their integrity and values right up to the bitter end. Sure, any candidate can fool me after the election by not being the person they said.
Also, I like the quickness and ease of voting at my precinct. It's never crowded and I can be in/out in less than 10 minutes. I always have a sample ballot marked with my choices when heading into the voting booth.
There are just too many breaking points for mail in voting. I don't want to go online to ensure my mail in ballot was accepted or even received. But mail in voting should be widely available for all citizens registered to vote, IMO.