Voting Bills Could Improve Participation in Future Elections

As Michigan citizens, many of us went to the polls this week and exercised our right to vote. We braved the weather, navigated busy schedules, or endured long lines to make the trip to the polling place and make sure our voice was heard. But what about those individuals who shared our passion to make a difference, but were unable to vote due to an unexpected illness, lack of daycare, car trouble or an irregular work shift? Shouldn’t their voices—and their votes—be heard as well? There are voting reform bills currently awaiting action by the Senate that could have made voting easier for thousands of people this year, and improved voting access and turnout if my republican colleagues would only vote them out of committee so that this piece of legislation could be signed into law.

Senate Bill 12, which is in the Senate Committee on Campaign and Election Oversight, would allow no-reason absentee voting in Michigan. Currently only voters who are over 60 years old, are incarcerated and awaiting arraignment or trial, have religious objections, plan to be out of their precinct on Election Day, or need assistance at the polls are eligible to vote by absentee ballot in Michigan.

Michigan lags behind 28 other states that allow no-reason absentee voting. These voters enjoy the option of getting their ballots early, studying the candidates and issues, and returning their ballots to meet the Election Day deadline. Three other states—Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina—allow early in-person voting and have already opened their polls and voters have been voting at their convenience.

We know that convenience is a factor sometimes in getting people to the polls. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, voter turnout has steadily declined for the past 40 years. Of the registered voters who failed to show up at the polls for the 2004 elections, 46 percent – or 7.5 million Americans – told the U.S. Census Bureau that they did not vote for logistical reasons: they worked odd hours, they had transportation issues, or they had a sick child at home. With no reason absentee voting, these issues would go away and these people could more easily cast their vote.

No reason absentee voting would help even more with higher voter turnout. This year Michigan officials expected record numbers of voters at the polls, with 5 million expected to participate. Millions of Michigan citizens registered to vote for this election, with 98% of those eligible to vote registering. No reason absentee voting would have been a huge help to handle all of these voters that went to the polls. For the voters and poll workers alike, Michigan can and should join the list of states that allow no reason absentee voting.

We all know the importance of voting. Some of us grew up going to the polls with our parents and watching them cast their ballot. Some of our parents watched their parents march in protest in order to gain voting rights. Many new American citizens joined us and took their children with them as they proudly cast their ballots on November 4th. To not do everything we can to make voting simple and convenient for everyone is to take a step backwards instead of continuing to march forward.

No reason absentee voting is a common sense reform that is just as good for Michigan as it is for other voters across the country. Unfortunately, we didn’t have this reform available for this election, but we can certainly have it for the next. My democratic colleagues and I will continue fighting to push these voting reform bills out of committee and to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.