Lansing Sun

The Michigan State Senate approved a bill requiring voters to provide specific identification when voting in person.

“Michiganders, no matter their background or beliefs, are accustomed to showing their IDs to prove who they are, whether it’s to get married, buy a house, receive health care or social services, and much, much more,” Sen. Lana Theis (R-Brighton) said on her website.

Theis, who represents District 22 and serves as the assistant president pro tempore of the Michigan Senate, said showing a photo ID only makes sense. 

“We should have to show our IDs to participate in one of the most important and influential things we can do as citizens — voting,” she said on her website. “We must ensure every legal vote is counted while making our elections less susceptible to cheating. This legislation will help accomplish that.”

In addition to requiring voters to show proper identification when voting in person, Senate Bill 303 also would require anyone applying for an absentee ballot with the secretary of state or a local clerk “to provide either an official Michigan driver’s license number or personal identification card number, the last four digits of a social security number, a photocopy of such identification, or present proper identification to a clerk in person in order to verify their identity and receive an absentee voter ballot,” according to the release.

In the event a prospective voter is unable to provide proper identification, the person will be given a provisional ballot and have up to six days after the election to prove their identity and have their vote counted. Clerks also would have greater access to the secretary of state’s database to confirm voter information. The bill also would stop the secretary of state from mass-mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications and prohibit any ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day to be tabulated.

Currently, voters in Michigan are not required to show a photo ID to register or to vote, according to the Michigan Secretary of State website. A copy of a utility bill or bank statement is sufficient. A recent poll by the Remington Research Group revealed a majority of voters in Michigan favor increased election security. 

The survey, commissioned by Americans for Citizen Voting, saw 75% of voters support “requiring voters to show a government-issued photo I.D. in order to vote.” The poll also showed Michigan voters favor support for the Secure MI Vote ballot initiative.

The Michigan state legislature passed legislation in 2021 that increased voter identification requirements for in-person and absentee voting. But Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed the measures, saying, “the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee recently concluded that the 2020 election produced no significant evidence of fraud.”