 The League of Women Voters believes that voting is a fundamental citizen right that must be guaranteed. The League has long supported the integrity of the voting process. A series of measures, including requiring a photo ID when voting absentee, have recently been introduced in the Michigan legislature. These new requirements would erect unnecessary barriers to voting. "The League believes that voting should be fair and safe, but erecting unnecessary barriers to voting, such as requiring photo ID, is not fair and is not needed for voting to be safe," says LWVMI President Sue Smith. We are concerned that the new laws, if passed, could disproportionately suppress turnout of younger voters, minorities and low-income voters.
The proposed effort to suppress voting in Michigan is part of a nation-wide push that relies on two falsehoods: (1) that voter fraud in the form of voter impersonation is rampant and (2) that every honest voter can easily produce a photo ID . The first premise, that voter fraud in the form of voter impersonation is rampant, is not true. Clerks who run our elections have attested that there is no evidence of voter impersonation in Michigan. Michigan has strong election laws to protect the integrity of our elections. Michigan already establishes the identity of voters by means of the Qualified Voter File, the state's voter registration data base. Additional identification in the form of a photo ID is not necessary.
The second premise, that everyone can easily produce a photo ID is also false. Obtaining the necessary documents, such as an original birth certificate, can be costly and difficult. Some voters don't have an original birth certificate. A person's inability to take time off from work as well as the lack of transpor-tation and/or mobility make it hard for some voters to get the photo identification they would need.
LWVMI has taken an active role of fighting these voter suppression laws in Michigan by challenging their necessity in legislative committee hearings (see testimony here) and working to alert our members and the public to join with us in fighting this legislation. Click here to view our advocacy initiatives to work against voter suppression in Michigan, and join us in our campaign to guarantee every Michigan citizen the right to vote.
FEBRUARY 28TH PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION
A voter MUST indicate her/his wish to receive a REPUBLICAN or DEMOCRATIC ballot when application is made for a ballot -- whether at the polls or by absentee vote – because this election is a Closed Primary unlike other Primary elections in Michigan. If there are other races or proposals on the ballot in your area, you will receive the ballot for those items regardless of whether or not you select a party for the Presidential Primary race. Your selection of Party for the Presidential Preference Primary does NOT restrict whom you can vote for in other partisan races on the ballot. Click on February 28th Presidential Primary for candidate names, websites and information about the election in Michigan.
clean air promise
In Michigan, nearly 1 million people suffer from asthma, including more than 225,000 children. Clean air programs are some of the most successful governmental initiatives in our history. Clean air programs have provided strong public health protections that have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives and prevented countless asthma attacks, heart attacks, premature deaths and other pollution-related illnesses.
Unfortunately, there are ongoing attempts in Congress to roll back public health protections provided by clean air policies that, in some instances, have been in place for decades. Clean air saves lives, and we need to ensure clean air for our children and families in the future. For too long, polluters have been able to focus the debate on “overregulation” and false assertions that environmental protections hurt our economy.
In 1970, Congress made a promise to future generations by passing the Clean Air Act to protect us from pollutants like smog, soot, carbon and mercury. It is up to you to keep that promise and to make your own promise to generations to come. For the health of our families and communities, we ask you to promise to protect public health from air pollution. Read the Clean Air Fact Sheet and make the Clean Air Promise at www.peoplenotpolluters.org.
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