Voting in Michigan

What you need to know to vote in Michigan

The quickly approaching primary election in Michigan will give voters a chance to go to the polls and vote in a federal election for the first time since 2016. According to the Michigan Secretary of State, a voter must have a have a photo ID in order to cast a ballot. The state says that acceptable forms of ID include a driver’s license, state ID, U.S. passport, military ID, high school or higher education ID, or tribal identification card.

If a voter does not have any of these documents, they are allowed to cast a ballot after signing an affidavit. Their ballot is the same as voters with IDs, but election officials require the person to sign a form that affirms their identity and residential address before they can vote. If the person is later found to have been wrongfully impersonating someone else, they can be sentenced to up to five years in prison. This overall process leaves room for human error and discrimination and complicates a person’s right to cast a ballot. 
The National Conference of State Legislatures classifies Michigan’s law as non-strict given the fact that a voter can still vote even if they do not have proper identification in their possession. Still, the existence of any identification requirement has been proven to decrease voter turnout.
Looking ahead to the 2018 midterms, it’s certain that information on what’s required of voters in Michigan needs to be released in clearer, more accessible manners in order to fully inform Michigan residents of what’s expected of them through the law.
While other states may have stricter laws, that doesn’t mean that Michigan’s law is at all justified. It still poses an extra burden on the voter and disincentives going to the polls in the first place. Voter turnout is already incredibly low and added requirements only make voting more difficult for the average person. It can also be reasonably concluded from research done on voter ID laws that they are a Republican-led tactic designed to suppress Democratic party supports and deny them the right to vote.
Many states that require an ID to vote are led by a Republican majority whom use the law to their advantage. By electing Democrats to office at the local, state and federal levels we can eventually end voter ID laws. Until then, the best bet is to raise awareness about these laws and how they affect voters.

History of voter ID laws in Michigan

In 2007, concerns of voter fraud led Michigan officials to sign a controversial voter ID bill into law. This legislation added requirements for casting a ballot in an effort to ensure voter fraud could not happen. But the law did not come without controversy.
At the time, Democrats in Michigan’s state legislature said this move was nothing more than a politically motivated stunt. “The voter ID laws being pushed by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson and legislative Republicans are based solely on a political agenda, not some phony altruistic goal of fighting election fraud,” wrote Robert McCann in 2007.

A spokesman from the office of Secretary of State Republican Ruth Johnson argued at the time that the law would in no way disenfranchise voters or suppress their right to vote. Instead, Johnson believes that the law would make elections more fair and eliminate any chance of ballots being cast with fraudulent purposes.
The 2007 law has remained fully intact since then and the call for stricter legislation increased after the 2016 election.
Michigan conducted a comprehensive recount of all ballots cast in the 2016 election. They found very little evidence of voter fraud, but still attempted to create an even stricter voter ID law in order to protect the state from future cases of fraud. The state House ultimately failed to pass stricter legislation, but the message of drafting the legislation is clear. When in power, Republicans will use it to harm their constituents’ right to vote.

Future of Voter ID Laws in Michigan

The 2018 election will be critical for voter ID laws in Michigan. Concerns of election security were rampant after 2016 when many Republican legislators called for a stricter law to be put into place. While those efforts were stalled in the state legislature, the mere thought of those attempts make the results of the 2018 election incredibly important.

There are a number of ways that Michigan residents can fight against voter ID laws and make attempts to end voter suppression in the state. And it all comes down to electing Democrats to the state legislature.

Republicans currently hold a 27-11 advantage over Democrats in the Michigan state senate and a 63-46 advantage in the House.
All 38 seats are up for reelection in the senate with a number of Republicans vulnerable to being voted out of office. The state’s term limits will affect 19 Republicans this election season making those seats some of the most vulnerable of all.
In the House, there are a reported 14 Republican seats that are vulnerable to being voted out of office. These important races were highlighted in Ballotpedia at length.
It’s crucial that Democrats gain seats in both the Michigan Senate and House as the state could try to pass stricter voter ID laws once more if voted into power. Voter ID laws are overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and more than often strongly opposed by Democrats. If Michigan elects more Democrats to the state legislature, it will be instrumental in preserving voting rights for decades to come.
At the federal level, the current battle over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court is crucial for voting rights. Kavanaugh made his support for voter ID laws clear during his time as a circuit court judge by voting in favor of the South Carolina ID law. As voting rights expert Ari Berman wrote in the New York Times, voting rights will be in danger if Kavanaugh is confirmed.
This makes state elections more important than ever as there may no longer be trustworthy federal decisions to fight against voter suppression.
Michigan voters can find a complete sample ballot before they head to the polls on August 7 here.