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Whitmer Vetoes Two Republican-Backed Election Reform Bills

Photo: Elaine Cromie / Getty

LANSING, October 18, 2021 ~ Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed two Republican-supported election legislations, saying that they “fail to advance” the mission towards secure and legitimate elections.

I think what is up with this is the Governor has made the decision that any bill that the Republican legislature is putting forward on election reforms that aren’t thoroughly negotiated with her administration, she’s gonna veto,” said The Detroit News Reporter Craig Mauger. “Any bill that is kind of rooted in their efforts to make changes after the 2020 election, she’s gonna veto, no matter what it is, no matter if Democrats supported it. She is blocking these bills.”


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One bill would have updated the process of removing dead citizens from voting lists, requiring checks more often during the 45-day period before the election.

Every citizen of Michigan has the constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote and deserves to exercise that right in safe and secure elections,” said Governor Whitmer in a letter to legislators explaining her veto. “Enrolled Senate Bills 277 and 280 are the latest in a series of election bills arriving on my desk that fail to advance those goals.”

The other bill would the state elections board to canvass signatures for an initiative petition within 100 days of filing. Currently, determination must be made no more than 100 days before the election in which the proposal would appear.

Whitmer is expected to veto more bills in the coming weeks, including a bill that requires voters to provide their state ID, driver’s license or social security number, and only allows absentee ballots to be sent on request.

Meanwhile, Republicans are closing in on Whitmer’s reelection campaign, winning a lawsuit requiring Gretchen Whitmer to return or donate more than $3 million in campaign contributions.

Whitmer’s campaign gained a record $8.65 million, including $3.4 million from donors who exceeded the $7,150 limit for individual contributions.

Now you’ve got to either give it back to the donors, or you’ve got to give it to some other entity,” said Mauger. “And if it goes to the Democratic Party — you know this is the wild part — the Democratic Party can use the money to benefit not just Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s reelection, but Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s reelection, whose office is weighing what happened with this.”