The GOP-led state legislature proposed a package of bills (SB273-311) to restrict Michigan citizens’ right to vote. Their 39 bills would make it difficult to cast a ballot. In contrast, Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson is advancing legislation to increase access to voting.
Michigan Resistance began in the dark days following Trump’s victory, energized by the disappointment of Progressives. During that lame-duck session from November to December in 2016, when Republicans in the State Houses felt empowered by Trump’s victory to pass conservative, even right-wing bills, a band of Progressives met with Democrats in the State Houses who kept them informed of the legislative goings-on which needed protest. Armed with a list of 20,000 Democratic voters from Hillary Clinton’s campaign, these Progressives called them to ask them to call their state senators and representatives, remembers Margaret Schankler.
This has been an ongoing series where Presidential Actions have been parsed out in an effort to acquire some transparency into the intentions President Biden has implemented in the opening days of his administration. For a full breakdown of the difference in the kinds of Actions available, please visit PEG’s article “Presidential Actions: What’s the Difference?”. It must be noted that it is easy to revoke the executive orders of previous administrations without the proper legislation to codify policy. It is imperative to understand that without urging congress to pass bills that support Executive Orders, they are vulnerable once a president leaves office.
The subjects of the following actions range from policy revocations, civil rights, and foreign policy. There are links directly to the officially published documents in the Federal Register. As of the date of this article, fifty days into his administration, President Biden has issued 35 Executive Orders, 16 Proclamations, and 11 Memoranda. Notices have not been presented, but can be found in the Federal Register.
date changes have created angst for the political parties and its’ constituencies and placed states in difficult positions to legally and accurately complete their responsibilities. Some states have constitutional deadlines for redistricting and/or statutory filing deadlines for primaries.
Michigan’s redistricting commission will hold an open meeting at 1 PM on March 5th to discuss the conflict between when Census data will be available and constitutional deadlines. Complicating matters, voting rights advocates have said, is that this will be the first redistricting cycle since the Supreme Court eliminated the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act that required states with a history of racial discrimination to prove to the Department of Justice that their electoral maps weren’t drawn to dilute the power of voters of color. The shortened redistricting window leaves less time to challenge maps in the courts as discriminatory.
Objecting to the Electoral Ballots is not new, but 1/6/21 was indeed different!! I must admit, I have never watched the proceedings before as it is usually ceremonial, lasting approximately 30- 60 minutes.
The BEST way to elect progressives is to invest in the grassroots organizing groups that are on the ground 24/7/365 doing the work to go beyond platitudes and instead are achieving public policy wins for normally marginalized people at the local, state and national levels.
They also help these people organize themselves so that they can advocate for their own priorities — a novel concept— which leads to them BEING and, importantly, FEELING empowered. This leads to increased trust in institutions and the political system, which in turn grows participation and voter turnout.
The 2020 Census has been a political tug-of-war, with the Trump administration seeking to restrict its ability to include undocumented immigrants and marginalized communities in general. Check out this “deep dive” into the story, and the importance, of the census.
If you have moved in the last 30 days, you will need to re-register. You can update your information through this online voter registration page before October 19 or go to your city or township clerk. If you have moved and have not changed your address for voting, you will need to do that.
If you have received your absentee ballot and then decided to vote in person on election day, contact your clerk for instructions. If you need assistance with your absentee ballot, read the specific instructions regarding that.
On September 28, 2020, the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced a target date of October 5, 2020, to conclude 2020 Census self-response and field data collection operations. The Commerce Department announced the speedup last month, two weeks after President Trump took a second swing at the problem of counting noncitizens, ordering the department to compile state-by-state estimates of unauthorized immigrants to exclude them from reapportionment calculations.
According to the Michigan Secretary of State website, there were close to 11,000 rejected ballots in the August primary election. More than 80% were due to signature verification issues or late arrival. Make sure that your vote is counted this November!