A campaign supporting a ballot proposal that seeks to protect the right to vote in Michigan’s constitution has turned in more than 600,000 petition signatures to the Secretary of State’s office. Promote the Vote 2022 would enshrine voting rights in the constitution by declaring the fundamental right to vote without harassment. Campaign Director Micheal Davis spoke Monday.
“A sincere thank you to all of our supporters, partners, and volunteers that are here today that really pounded the pavement, stood in the sun and the rain, talking to voters at farmers markets and houses of worship from Monroe to Marquette, from Grand Rapids to Gaylord, from Bay City to Benton Harbor, and from Detroit to Dowagiac.”
Davis said the campaign was bipartisan in that it seeks to protect voting rights and election integrity. Promote the Vote would require military or overseas ballot to be counted if returned by election day, allow voters to identify themselves with a photo ID or signed statement, and require each voter to have one opportunity to get an absentee ballot with state-paid postage. It would also allow nine days of early voting, require that only elections officials do post-election audits, and require elections boards to certify elections based only on the official record of votes cast.
