State Voting Rights Act package approved by Senate

A package of bills to create a state Voting Rights Act was approved by the Senate on a party-line vote. Proponents of the four-bill package, Senate Bills 961, 962, 963 and 964, state the bills are necessary to protect Michigan voters from the erosion of federal election law. The bills are similar to legislation passed last session in which MTA engaged in negotiations and many changes were made. MTA opposes the main bill, SB 961, as it includes provisions beyond federal requirements and would establish a complaint process for individuals or groups who feel a local government is in violation of the provisions. MTA supports SB 962, which would establish the Michigan Voting Database and Institute for the purpose of having one location for people to access voting data and information. The Secretary of State (SOS) would provide the institute with voting data that local clerks already submit to the SOS. If the SOS requests any additional publicly available information for the institute, the local government would be reimbursed. The institute would also become the depository for any election-related data that it receives. If local governments were to receive a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for this information, they could then refer the requester to the institute. The two remaining bills, SBs 963 and 964, would create the Language Assistance for Elections Act and establish new notice requirements for certain election-related activities. MTA is neutral on SB 963, which would require local governments that meet a certain threshold of voters with limited English proficiency to provide language assistance for elections, and opposes SB 964 to establish new notice requirements for certain election-related activities to the SOS. The bills advance to the House; however, no action is anticipated by the House chamber.