candidates

Michigan GOP hopefuls, surrogates weigh in on petition to rewrite voting laws

By |

The upcoming election year may look different if Michigan Republicans are successful in their petition to rewrite voting laws, and in theory, they could do it with only 8% of previous voters’ signatures, according to the Michigan constitution. The Secure MI Vote initiative would prohibit private election funding, strengthen in-person ID rules, create a new $3 million “voter access fund,” require ID info for absentee ballot applications and bar unsolicited absentee ballot applications to voters. An infographic simplifying information about the law. 

Republican reactions

Opponents of the bill claim this will make voting that much more difficult, even dismaying voters. 

Republicans, however, feel differently about their petition. Many wish to not make this petition a partisan effort and would rather come together from both sides, said Mark Uminn, a GOP candidate for precinct delegate of Oshtemo Charter Township. 

Said Uminn, “We think that there’s been a lot of division over the past couple of years, and that we need to come together -Not on ‘we want Republicans’ or ‘we want Democrats’- but rather we want fair elections. And we want our voters, our constituents, to be confident about the results of those elections.”

“I’m very hopeful about the result of this petition,” said Uminn, “and I think that we see that with every single signature that gets added to this petition, and we are very hyped up about this and we’re ready to go.

Article

Kalamazoo commissioner candidates gear up for August election

By |

Kalamazoo County’s unofficial candidate list for the upcoming primary election August 2, 2022 lists mostly county commissioners as candidates. Out of the nine districts within Kalamazoo County, the first, third and seventh are the only districts without a candidate running as of mid March. Map of the nine districts of Kalamazoo, out of these districts the first, third and seventh do not have a commissioner candidate yet. Screenshot from the Kalamazoo County Government website. Behind the scenes look at the election

The 2022 election, like past elections, faces staffing issues.

Article

House Republicans scale back minimum wage and paid sick leave

By |

Michigan voters came out in numbers last week to protest the recent changes to the minimum wage and paid sick leave laws that were approved early this year. The new bills, which passed the House and Senate during the lame-duck session, significantly alter the original legislation. Coming from various cities across Michigan, women and men gathered outside the Capitol for half-an-hour before making their way to the Rotunda chanting “lame-duck has got to go.” Roquesha O’Neil, a Detroit resident, traveled to Lansing to join the protests and express her displeasure with the lawmakers who amended the minimum wage bills. “It’s a dangerous game they’re playing because they’re hurting and breaking our families,” she said.

Elections & Politics

Waverly school board race intensifies

By |

The Waverly school board race that once did not have enough candidates to fill the ballot for four open seats now has seven candidates. Four people met the Oct. 26 deadline to run as write-in candidates, Eaton County Clerk Diana Bosworth said. They are:

Capital New Service

Old voting machines come with a cost

By |

By RAY WILBUR
Capital News Service
LANSING — When Michigan voters cast ballots Nov. 8, they’ll be lining up at voting machines that may be 15 years old in some places. County clerks and election officials say they hope for updated equipment by 2017, or at least by the time voters decide on Michigan’s new governor in 2018. But they say voters this November could face machine crashes and long wait times caused by the aging equipment. Already Michigan ranks 46th in the nation for how much time the average voter will take to cast a ballot, according to a Massachussetts Institute of Technology study.

Education

Seats without candidates cause problems for schools, cities

By |

By KAREN HOPPER USHER
Capital News Service
LANSING — In Michigan more than 150 local government, school and library seats lack candidates for this November’s election, according to a preliminary document from the  Department of State. State officials are in the early stages of tallying uncontested seats and that number could change. “It looks like a long list, but it’s actually a small proportion,” said Matt Grossmann, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University. The United States has more elections than any country in the world, Grossmann said. The vacancies do, however, create problems for cities.

Elections & Politics

Michigan officials seek strategy to encourage voter turnout

By |

By JOSH THALL
Capital News Service
Lansing — With voter turnout in Michigan steadily declining, some lawmakers and state officials are looking for ways to make voting easier. In the 2014 midterm election, 41.6 percent of Michigan’s voting-age population turned out, according to the Michigan Secretary of State website. That’s a drop from 50.7 percent in the midterm election of 2006 and 42.9 percent in 2010. To help encourage voting, Sen. Steven Bieda, D-Warren, recently introduced an amendment to the Michigan Election Law to allow for no-reason absentee voting. That means voters would no longer need an excuse to get an absentee ballot.