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Beware the voting restriction petition drive coming soon

To the Journal editor:

The topic of a petition drive by Lansing politicians to restrict access to voting was front and center at the Voters Not Politicians table in the exhibition hall at the Marquette County Fair Aug. 12-14.

You might recall that VNP was the nonpartisan volunteer group that led the citizens redistricting reform in 2018 to end partisan gerrymandering. On behalf of VNP, I spent much of my Saturday on Aug. 14 discussing with fairgoers the roughly 39 bills our Michigan Legislature supports making it harder to vote in Michigan.

Many enjoyed voting from home in 2020. Those that went to the polls voiced no complaints. Over the course of the weekend many signed a pledge to oppose any petition drive to make it harder for folks to vote. However, there were a few skeptics who still believe in the “big lie” that there was election fraud, a lie that state Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah, recently debunked in his committee report that was based on multiple audits and interviews.

His report found no voter fraud or voting security issues. It was also interesting to find that people who at first were in favor of restricting someone else’s access to vote, were not so sure when they realized that these restrictions would also affect them.

Regardless of political perspective, most people I engaged with did not agree that 340,00 voters (petition signers) and legislators should make decisions for roughly 8,000,000 registered voters in this state due to a loop hole in Michigan law.

This is why voters should not sign any ballot proposal or petition regarding proposed voter restriction legislation as these proposals will never make it to the ballot and will be enacted by minority rule. Keep in mind that this petition will do damage to the Proposal 3 voting rights amendment that passed with roughly 68% of voter approval in 2018.

These proposals are not about protecting the integrity of our vote.  They are about making it difficult for you to vote, creating chaos at the voting polls and decreasing voter turnout. Even if you believe in the “big lie,” be careful because these proposals will also make it harder for you to vote.

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