HOUGHTON — Local organization Voting Rights Advocates held a virtual event to discuss voting access in Michigan.

Sponsored by the Justice Ministry of the Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the event featured four speakers who dissected a legislative proposal from a downstate group known as Secure MI Vote.

Secure MI Vote says that its proposal would improve election security, but presenters at the event argued that it would actually suppress the vote – making it more difficult for residents to cast ballots and harder for county clerks to conduct elections.

Susana Peters, an attorney and senior lecturer in law and society at Michigan Tech, kicked off the conversation, noting that Michigan achieved record high voter turnout in 2020.

“71% of people over 18 voted in the 2020 election. This resulted in a change in how Michigan voted and who won the election. Two thirds of these people cast absentee ballots,” she said.

“Secure MI Vote is in some ways a response to that 2020 election, arguably with the goal of voter suppression by adding obstacles to distribution of absentee ballots, limiting in person voting, and making it harder to administer elections.”

Peters also commented on the process that Secure MI Vote is using to advance its proposal – an unusual petition procedure outlined in Michigan’s constitution.

To send its proposal to the legislature, Secure MI Vote must collect 340,047 valid signatures – the equivalent of 8% of the total number of Michigan residents who voted in the 2018 gubernatorial election.

Then, if Michigan’s legislature passes the proposal, it will become law. The governor will be unable to veto, and it will not appear as a ballot initiative for voters to decide.

“You’re most likely never going to vote on this bill. This petition is set up so that if 8% of the voters in the state sign it, the legislature can just pass it. The governor can’t veto it and no one will have a chance to vote on it,” Peters said.

“Our legislature right now is heavily in favor of this law. They’ve tried to pass laws like it this year. They’ve been unsuccessful because the governor vetoed them.”

Faith Morrison, MTU professor emerita of chemical engineering and League of Women Voters member, examined several of Secure MI Vote’s proposed changes.

Michigan already requires voters to present photo ID before they cast a ballot. Secure MI Vote seeks to eliminate the affidavit option – an alternative means of self-identification for voters who are unable to present ID.

“You affirm under penalty of perjury, that you are who you say you are. If you lie, the fine is up to $1,000 and imprisonment for up to five years,” explained Morrison.

A relatively small number of Michigan voters – 11,400 people or 0.2% of voters – utilized this option in 2020.

Morrison said that the affidavit option is especially beneficial to rural voters, who may travel long-distances to vote and have difficulty taking extra time to retrieve a forgotten ID.

“A small number of people are going to forget their IDs, and this is a pathway that respects those individuals. There is absolutely no evidence that there’s a problem with the affidavit route,” Morrison said.

“We should avoid putting up unnecessary barriers to citizens being able to lawfully cast their votes. Everybody should be encouraged to vote, everybody should have a pathway to voting that is reasonable.”

Secure MI Vote would also require voters to submit the last four digits of their social security number when requesting an absentee ballot.

“In the US, we don’t use social security numbers as a national ID. Many of us are very protective of our social security numbers, as we well should be, because your social security number is the key to a lot of your identity,” said Morrison.

“Without any data saying that there was a problem, we should not expose every single voter in the state of Michigan to the potential of exposing any part of their social security number.”

Later in the event, Houghton County Clerk Jennifer Kelly explained that clerks do not have access to all voters’ social security numbers, making them an ineffective means of verifying identity.

Glenn Anderson was Hancock’s City Manager for 23 years and now serves on the Houghton County Board of Commissioners. He addressed another Secure MI Vote proposal that would prevent clerks from mailing absentee ballot applications to voters who did not request them.

He noted that political parties and other non-governmental groups can send these applications to voters, and Secure MI Vote would only prevent election officials from doing so.

“Anyone involved in political activity gets numerous applications sent to us by our party, by nonprofits, unions, and corporations. All of that will continue. But the Secretary of State and any of your local clerks would not be able to send out absentee ballot applications without first having a request by the voter,” he explained.

In 2020, absentee ballot applications – which must be submitted before a voter can receive an absentee ballot – were mailed to every registered voter in Michigan. This practice contributed to record voter turnout, and there is no evidence that it resulted in fraud.

Anderson also reflected on his experience administering elections.

“In my 38 years working with clerks through three municipalities, I can honestly say that not one person ever showed up to cheat. A lot of people forgot whether they’re registered or didn’t know what precinct they’re voting in. These things go on, but I have never seen anyone cheating,” he said.

Jennifer Kelly, who has served as the Houghton County Clerk since 2015, concluded the event by explaining election administration, and addressing a few misconceptions about election procedure.

“When anybody comes to any of the precincts in Houghton County on election day, they’re asked for their photo ID. A lot of people think that was not a requirement in 2020. They also think we’re not using paper ballots. We are using paper ballots,” she said.

“All of our election workers are paid, we don’t use volunteers. All of our election workers are certified by me every two years, which is required by law.”

Kelly also explained some of the procedures used to prevent fraud, like verifying voters’ identities and ensuring that no one votes more than once.

“I don’t think we had any voter fraud. We had some people who were definitely confused. We had people saying they were going to vote multiple times, but I looked them up myself and they only voted once,” she said.

Kelly was confident that the systems and procedures in place are effective in preventing fraud and conducting secure elections.

Voting Rights Advocates encouraged attendees to oppose Secure MI Vote, and to be cautious about signing any petition without first understanding its contents.