Michigan GOP lawmakers condemn new election laws

Sen. James Runestad (R-White Lake) speaks at an election security event in Lansing, Michigan on June 5, 2024 (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)

Recent changes to Michigan election law, as well as other legislation that Democrats have proposed, are eviscerating election officials’ ability to best administer fair and accurate elections, Republican state lawmakers said at a Lansing event on Wednesday.

“Whether you’re an independent, Democrat or Republican, this doesn’t help you,” state Sen. James Runestad (R-White Lake) said. “This kind of stuff is crafted to get an outcome for the people who are not transparent.”

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Lawmakers at the event called attention to legislation Democrats have introduced under their majority in the last year and half, including bills that have already cleared the Senate. Senate Bills 603 and 604 alter the requirements for requesting vote recounts, while raising recount filing fees and clarifying that county canvassers don’t have the authority to investigate voter fraud, leaving the authority to law enforcement.

Other bills drawing ire from lawmakers speaking at the event Wednesday include a proposed Michigan Voting Rights Act which would expand upon the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which has taken hits in effectiveness over the years, most recently with a federal court ruling last year that weakened the ability for lawsuits to be brought when individuals are hindered from voting on the basis of race. 

The Michigan Voting Rights Act, Senate Bills 401–404, would make it state law that local governments and state agencies have an obligation to enact policies that do not hinder individuals of different racial backgrounds, language minority groups or disabilities from voting. The bills outline what violations can look like and how individuals can seek remedies and legal action against parties that they say hindered their participation in elections. 

But Michigan’s version of the Voting Rights Act goes beyond federal standards, Runestad said, and makes it harder for clerks to stay in their jobs.

“It is so draconian,” Runestad said. “It is all kinds of things where the clerk’s be sued if they don’t get equal outcomes for different groups and voting patterns. So this is the kind of thing that we’re dealing with in the Legislature.”

Democrats are putting forth some of the worst bills, former Michigan Secretary of State and current state Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) said she’s ever seen in her time in the Legislature.

“Methodically, they’re stripping away layer after layer of integrity in our elections, both by laws that are being passed through and by some of the past ballot initiatives that were very deceptive, and a lot of money was spent to make people think some of it was different than what it really was,” Johnson said. “You can go toe-to-toe on anything you want to fight with, but you shouldn’t deceive people. You’re just using them when you do that. People need to have a say. This is America.”

Sen. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) speaks at an election security event in Lansing, Michigan on June 5, 2024 (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has long stated that the claims spearheaded by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 election was stolen are “shameful” and an attempt to undermine the will of the people of Michigan which chose Biden by over 150,000 votes. Benson spoke with the Advance last week saying that the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters taught Michigan a lot about preparing for interference with elections and the state is ready to pose legal consequences to those attempting to interfere with democracy.

“We always hope for the best and plan for every contingency,” Benson said. “And so once we’ve lived through everything we lived through in 2020, where people pulled every lever and tried every tactic they could employ to get the election results blocked or overturned, we knew to never underestimate how far or how low people would go to interfere with this basic element of American democracy.”

Michigan had more than 250 audits confirming that the 2020 election, in which President Joe Biden defeated Trump, was safe and secure.

The crowd at the event on Wednesday booed the assertion that the 2020 election was secure. 

State Sen. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater) said what Michigan Democrats are doing now is codifying “the ability to manipulate elections in the law,” leaving the door wide enough so they can “pull off the outcome they want in an election.”

“We’ve heard it said over and over, ‘The 2020 election was the most secure election in American history’ — and this is crazy,” Lindsey said. “I think anytime you open the door and leave a possibility for people to cheat, especially in important things, some subset of people are going to do that.” 

Sen. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Allen) speaks at an election security event in Lansing, Michigan on June 5, 2024 (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)

Lawmakers also criticized a 2022 constitutional amendment, Proposal 2, which 60% of voters approved. Among other measures, it provides for nine days of early voting and enshrines current voter photo ID rules and preempted Republican measures for stricter voter ID rules.

In 2018, voters also approved another constitutional amendment, Proposal 3, which allowed for same-day voter registration, no-reason absentee voting and other measures.

With Michiganders able to vote up to and on Election Day, this has created a perfect storm for problems in state elections, Johnson and other lawmakers argued.

Former St. Clair County Clerk and current Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) decried legislation that would reinstate the ability for Michigan residents, regardless of immigration status, to obtain driver licenses and state IDs.

“There’s a bill proposed right now to provide driver’s licenses for illegals. We all know where that’s gonna go,” DeBoyer said.

As States Newsroom has reported, Trump and Republicans have raised the alarm about voting by non-citizens and the undocumented across the country. This has led to a push for more voting restrictions.

Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) speaks at an election security event in Lansing, Michigan on June 5, 2024 (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)

Voting by non-citizens is extremely rare. A voter fraud database run by the conservative Heritage Foundation, which covers several decades in which billions of votes have been cast across the country, contains 29 entries that mention non-citizens. In some of these, a non-citizen registered but did not vote.

Republicans, who are now in the minority in both chambers of the Legislature for the first time in nearly 40 years, have been saying Democrats have largely not been coming to the table across issues to work to create bipartisan policies. 

Democrats are wasting resources by now consulting with several Republican lawmakers that have served as election officials, Former Martin Township Clerk and current state Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin) said.

“I’m convinced all of this is being done because the Democrats have a hard time winning otherwise. If we’ve had the most safe and secure election that we’ve heard time and time again, the last couple of election cycles that we’ve had, then why are we doing all [this], the need to have these extreme laws enacted that significantly weaken the security and integrity of out elections,” Smit said. “Democrats continue to introduce legislation to strip away safeguards to provide checks and balances. … Michigan voters deserve confidence in our elections.”

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