FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENews from Progress Michigan
April 14, 2021
Contact: Sam Inglot, (616) 916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
In 2016, Sen. McBroom Opposed Voter ID Laws Now Being Pushed by MIGOP
Progress Michigan calls on Sen. McBroom to reiterate his opposition to voter ID laws
MICHIGAN – As Republican lawmakers work to chip away at Michiganders’ voting rights with a package of bills that would restrict access to the ballot box, Progress Michigan is calling attention to Sen. Ed McBroom’s previous opposition to voter ID laws and asking the senator to again speak out against these bills.
During the 2016 lame duck session, House Republicans passed HB 6060, a bill that would remove the option for voters without a photo ID to vote by signing an affidavit swearing to their identity under penalty of perjury. Instead, these voters would have to use a provisional ballot and those ballots would not be counted until voters returned to their clerk’s office with a photo ID, which would have to be done within 10 days of the election. McBroom, a state representative at the time, opposed the law.
That year, more than 18,000 people voted by signing an affidavit. Even McBroom, who has also voted via affidavit, said at the time, “I have voted at times by filling out an affidavit because I forgot my driver’s license. And now I’m going to be told that I have got to find time when my clerk’s at the office because she’s not in the office on most days.” McBroom also highlighted how far a drive it can be to get to a clerk’s office in the Upper Peninsula.
Now, Senate Republicans are attempting pass nearly the same law with SB 303 and SB 304, which would require voters with no photo ID to cast a provisional ballot that is only counted if they return to their clerk within just 6 days and provide a photo ID and proof of residence. Sen. McBroom has not signed on as a cosponsor of these bills, but he hasn’t voiced any opposition either.
“I don’t agree with Sen. McBroom very often, but he was absolutely right about this anti-voter bill in 2016,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “Now, he has a chance to take a stand against a similar bill that would make it more difficult for people across the state to make their voices heard. Policies like this are completely unnecessary given our current laws and only serve to place barriers between eligible voters—especially those in marginalized communities and in rural areas like Michigan’s Upper Peninsula—and the ballot box. McBroom has yet to clarify his current stance on these harmful laws, but I sincerely hope he will do the right thing and oppose his party’s naked and unjustified efforts to push anti-voter legislation.”
###