The Progress Michigan office has already received reports of some voters being denied ballots in today’s primary election, after refusing to fill out the citizenship checkbox that was unilaterally implemented by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson.
As expected, there is confusion with voters and election officials over the U.S. citizen checkbox requirement following Governor Snyder’s recent veto of voter suppression legislation.
To be clear – Michigan voters do not have to fill it out, but should still be given a ballot. (Of course, non-citizens are not permitted to vote.)
Chris Thomas, Director of Elections with the Michigan Secretary of State, just issued the following clarification to Rep. Barb Byrum:
The following clarification is being offered on how to handle the situation where a voter refuses to check the YES or NO box on the statement “I am a citizen of the United States.” If the voter refuses to check either box, read this statement: “Under the Michigan Constitution and election laws you must be a citizen of the United States in order to vote.” Then issue a ballot to the voter.
If voters have questions about this or other voting requirements, they are encouraged to call the Election Protection Hotline at (866) OUR-VOTE for answers.
The hotline is a non-partisan operation that will answer questions related to understanding ID requirements, finding polling locations, reporting voting problems, getting absentee ballot information, offering registration help and more.