Lansing Sun

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has a track record of vetoing Republican legislation which posits to toughen the security of the state's elections. Her most recent veto pertains to information being added to voter ballots, which she claims to be restrictive. The bill was intended to inform voters that it is a felony to vote twice. 

“It is time to stop debating election integrity laws and start enacting them in every state. Americans want elections they can trust, and for the vast majority of voters (85%) protecting voting rights means not just ensuring access but also protecting the security of the voting system as a whole,” Jason Snead of the Honest Elections Project said in the poll analysis.

Whitmer retorted that the plan "chilled" voting rights. 

"Every citizen of Michigan has a constitutionally guaranteed right to vote and should be free to exercise this right without obstruction," Whitmer wrote in her veto letter. She also claimed the bill "[aimed] to restrict or chill access to the ballot."

In earl April, Whitmer vetoed Republican legislation that intended to mandate that Michigan voters who haven’t voted since 2000 or are listed with a placeholder birth date send information verifying their identity to their local election clerks to make sure that their registration wasn't canceled. She asserted these bills would not “advance the goal of improving Michigan elections.”

In October 2021, Whitmer vetoed three bills that would have increased Michigan's voter identification requirements. The bills mandated in-person voters to provide proof of ID in order for their ballots to count. This would replace the current policy in which individuals are allowed to vote without an ID as long as they fill out an affidavit attesting to their identity. The governor argued that "the bills would disproportionately harm communities of color since non-White voters were five times more likely to lack an ID on election day," The Detroit News reports.

According to the most recent polling from the Honest Elections Project Action (HEP), 84% of Americans support national voter identification laws. In the poll analysis, Snead said that 72% of Black voters and 90% of Hispanic voters are in favor of voter ID. Snead opined that "every state should adopt a photo ID law." When compared to a year ago, the HEP Action poll revealed that support for photo ID laws has increased by 7 points. 

Public demand is high, as 75% of voters said they would vote for a ballot initiative mandating that every voter show a photo ID for in-person voting or give a valid ID number on a mail-in ballot. According to a 2022 poll distributed by Americans for Citizen Voting, 75% of Michigan voters support showing an ID in order to vote. Among Black voters, nearly 80% gave their support.