DETROIT — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed bills Friday that would have established a timeline for the state's elections panel to review initiative petitions and shifted authority for canceling voter registration for people who had died to county clerks.
Both were part of a broad, GOP-led bill package that supporters argued would restore faith in the electoral process. But Whitmer, and many other critics, argued instead the measures perpetuate conspiracies and misinformation in an effort to prevent some people from successfully voting.
"Every citizen of Michigan has the constitutionally guaranteed right to vote and deserves to exercise that right in safe and secure elections. Enrolled Senate Bills 277 and 280 are the latest in a series of election bills arriving on my desk that fail to advance those goals," Whitmer wrote Friday to lawmakers.
"Instead, these bills would divert key resources away from ensuring that every qualified Michigan resident can cast a secure ballot in our elections."
Whitmer provided some specific perspective on why she vetoed SB 277.
The bill shifted responsibility for clearing dead voters from the qualified voter file from city and township clerks to county clerks. County clerks already have the information on those who have died, currently sending this information to local jurisdictions.
Some clerks had argued this shift would be a good change, and the bill passed with widespread bipartisan support in the House and Senate. But Whitmer wrote the measure added "burdensome requirements that would distract from core election administration responsibilities."
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a former Democratic state lawmaker, testified before in favor of the concept. On Friday, she said she still supports the idea and had not spoken with Whitmer about her veto decision, but trusts the governor.
"Election administrators all across Michigan...work together to administer some of the safest and most secure election," Byrum said.
"I trust the governor to realize and know that the GOP has made election administration a political issue."
Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, and many others have falsely claimed that dead people voted in Michigan's 2020 presidential election.
The Free Press, the office of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and others have repeatedly debunked this claim. Benson's office did confirm that nearly 3,500 people voted early in the 2020 election but died before election day. Those ballots do not count.
Lead bill sponsor Sen. Michael MacDonald, R-Macomb Township, said the veto was especially frustrating given its support by local election officials.
"How do we provide safe and secure elections in our state if the governor can't even agree that we should be ensuring dead people aren't on our voting rolls?" MacDonald said in a statement.
Whitmer gave no specific reason for vetoing SB 280. The bill was another attempt to boost the power of the petition process, a signature-driven method to enact at times sweeping policy that is ineligible for a veto.
The bill would have required the Board of State Canvassers to deem whether an initiative petition garnered enough signatures within 100 days after its filing with the Secretary of State's office. The timeline would have been even shorter for petitions filed at least 160 days before a November general election — those have to be canvassed by the board within 60 days.
Under the current timeline for canvassing petition initiatives, the process can drag on for months. The bill passed the Michigan House and Senate on party-line votes, with only Republicans backing the measure.
Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, who introduced the bill, said Friday that Whitmer played politics with the veto.
"This legislation was not partisan, but the governor and secretary of state have chosen to make everything partisan. ... This veto is not about good public policy, it is about partisan politics," Johnson said in a statement.
"This bill was necessary because Secretary of State Benson's office has taken six to nine months to process the last two citizen initiatives...It disenfranchises people who are trying to exercise their rights under the Constitution to propose changes in our laws."
The Michigan Department of State opposed the bill because it did not provide additional funding the department says it would have needed to review signatures and comply with the new timeline.
Michigan's initiative process stands out nationally in allowing the Legislature to enact voter-initiated legislation without the governor's signature or placement on the ballot.
Voter-initiated legislation approved by the Legislature is not subject to the governor's veto and only goes to a statewide vote if lawmakers reject the legislation or voters pursue a referendum. In that instance, a majority of voters would have to support the initiative in order for it to be enacted.
____
