Chalkbeat

People leaving prisons in Michigan would get information on how to register to vote under proposed bill

2023-08-24T16:27:55+00:00

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.

It’s been nearly a decade since Vince King cast his first vote, and that act of filling out a ballot still resonates with him.

“Imagine what it’s like for a person who has never done it,” King recalls. “It made me feel free and part of the process.”

King hadn’t voted before his federal drug crime conviction put him behind bars, but when he did, “it made me feel proud,” said King, 55. It was a big deal to him when he put on his “I Voted” sticker.

Now a peer counselor for the social services group Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, King wants other people previously convicted of felonies to vote. He’s hoping new legislation aimed at helping people on parole to register will enable more of them to become voters.

House Bill 4534 would require the Michigan Department of Corrections to provide both identification and information about voter registration to people who have been convicted of felonies upon their release from prison.

An estimated 6,500 people incarcerated in Michigan’s prison system are expected to be released this year, according to the Department of Corrections, and 95% of them will be released on parole. The system has a total of 32,816 people currently imprisoned.

If passed by the state Legislature, the bill will help newly released people join 8 million other Michigan residents who regularly vote by equipping them with identification and preparing them to make decisions at the ballot box that could impact their lives.

“When you learn about politics and how it impacts your life, you go out and vote,” said King.

In Michigan, unlike many other states, those who have served their sentences immediately have their voting rights restored upon release.

State Rep. Erin Byrnes, one of HB 4534’s sponsors and a Democrat who represents the southeast Michigan district that includes Dearborn, said the legislation is hugely important for those getting out of prison because many don’t know they have the right to vote upon release.

“They will get the opportunity to cast their vote for people who are making decisions on the justice system,” said Byrnes, who previously taught in a Michigan women’s prison.

Byrnes said she feels optimistic about the bill’s prospects. It has drawn no public opposition, though lawmakers have yet to schedule a hearing on it.

Michigan Department of Corrections spokesman Kyle Kaminski says the state’s prison system already has a “robust” program of preparing imprisoned people for re-entry back into their communities, including providing them with identification, such as birth certificates, Social Security cards, state identification, and military service records for veterans. But the department does not currently provide voter registration information, Kaminski said.

Byrnes hopes to win support for the bill because of its “empowering” effect on would-be voters.

“Michigan is leading the way in voting rights, and this is an area that we can grow in,” said Byrnes.

Uneven landscape for post-incarceration voting rights

Nicole Porter, senior director of advocacy for the Washington, D.C.-based Sentencing Project, whose goal is to end mass incarceration through research and advocacy, said many previously incarcerated people wrongly believe they have lost the right to vote even after serving their time.

“People don’t understand that they have the right to vote,” said Porter. “It’s certainly a move in the right direction for Michigan to introduce this legislation.”

And while formerly incarcerated people in Michigan have their voting rights automatically restored once they walk out of prison, that is not the case in 25 other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In some cases, formerly incarcerated people in Florida are not able to vote unless they receive a pardon from the governor or clemency from the clemency board, said Porter. In 2018, Florida voters passed an amendment to the state’s constitution that automatically restores voting rights to individuals who were formerly incarcerated after they have completed the terms of their sentence, including completing parole, probation and payment of fines and fees. But advocates and observers say implementation of Amendment 4 has been beset by problems including bureaucratic bottlenecks of old records standing in the path of getting back voting rights.

“These are people living in the community, paying taxes, expected to be good neighbors following the completion of a sentence, and yet they are denied the right to vote,” said Porter.

In Tennessee, people seeking to have their voting rights reinstated must submit a formal petition. The state’s process requires fines and fees to be fully paid off, including court debt and child support arrears, Porter said.

In Mississippi, convictions of certain felonies, including theft of timber, carry a penalty of lifetime disenfranchisement. Upon release, a person convicted of such a felony and wishing to vote must ask a state lawmaker to introduce legislation to restore his or her individual voting rights, and get two-thirds of the Senate to approve the bill.

Critics of the Mississippi law say it was designed to permanently disenfranchise Black people who, the architects of the law believed, were more likely to commit certain felonies. This month a panel of judges from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the law but the state plans to appeal the court’s ruling.

Alabama and Virginia still have lifetime disenfranchisement of voting rights for those convicted of felonies including murder, kidnapping, rape, and property crimes.

According to the Sentencing Project, more than one in 10 Black adults in eight states have lost their voting rights: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Two states, Maine and Vermont, along with the District of Columbia and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, allow people to vote while in prison.

Liz Avore, senior advisor to the Voting Rights Lab, applauds Michigan lawmakers for introducing HB 4534, saying it is important for formerly incarcerated people to have access to good information about voting as they rejoin their communities, and legislation like it has drawn bipartisan support elsewhere.

But the laws re-enfranchising people previously incarcerated for felonies might not necessarily be translating into more voter participation, Avore says.

Thelonious Searcy and his wife, Tyria, at United Kingdom Church’s Welcome Home service for exonerees in July. Searcy was released from prison after he was exonerated in April 2021.

“A lot of times when we see these changes made, we’re not seeing the corresponding increase in numbers of voters taking advantage of their new eligibility,” she said. “There’s a lot of legislation like this bill in Michigan attempting to remedy that by educating people about when they are able to vote, and about how to do it, and to, kind of, demystify the process around voter registration.”

For Thelonious Searcy, who was exonerated in April 2021 for a 2004 murder on Detroit’s east side, House Bill 4534 could put a lot of people previously convicted of felonies on the path to becoming active voters, something many of them wished for while they were serving their sentences.

“We watched a lot of politics when we were behind bars,” said Searcy, 43. “Once you get in a situation like ours, you say, ‘I want to vote for someone who’s going to bring forth change.’ Just because we’re in prison, it impacts us too.”

Searcy says he is looking forward to voting in next year’s general election.

“Next year I will be voting. I will be voting,” said Searcy. “Before I went to prison I didn’t vote. I left the streets at the age of 24 and I had never voted before.”

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Bridge Michigan. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.

Michigan clerk faces demands for resignation and recall threats after his indictment in “false elector” plot

2023-08-16T23:31:47+00:00

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.

Stanley Grot, the clerk of a suburban Detroit township who was among several “false electors” indicted last month for allegedly trying to subvert Michigan’s 2020 presidential vote, faced a harsh public reception Tuesday from several local residents calling for him to resign or face removal from his job, if even by a recall campaign.

Several people who spoke at the Shelby Township Board of Trustees’ meeting demanded that Grot step aside, saying he has “shamed” the township because of the eight-count indictment against him. The packed, civil audience of about 125 people at the township library was a far cry from the normal low-turnout proceedings, a member of the board noted.

Grot, whose job as clerk means he also sits on the board, was called out by some of his constituents on the state’s allegations that he was trying to to help throw a presidential election.

Jim Diez was among Shelby Township residents who showed up and addressed Grot directly, urging him to resign and then asking the township board to remove him if he doesn’t.

“I think it’s the best thing for the township. I think there is enough swelling in the township in both the Democratic and Republican party that if you don’t, then we’re going to have to figure out a recall. I hate to drag the whole township through it, but it’s just getting to that point,” said Diez.

Resident Jim Diez holds up a document at Tuesday’s meeting that he says is a copy of the false electors’ phony certificate, allegedly bearing Shelby Township Clerk Stanley Grot’s signature.

An attorney for the Shelby Township Board said the board has no authority to remove Grot and that only the governor has the power to do so.

Grot is among 16 Republicans whom Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged with felonies in July for trying to cast Michigan’s electoral votes for Donald Trump even though Joe Biden won the state.

The defendants, some of whom are scheduled for a Friday hearing in the case, are accused of secretly meeting on Dec. 14, 2020 in the basement of the Michigan Republican Party headquarters in Lansing and hatching a plan to submit forged certificates falsely certifying that Michigan residents had voted for Trump despite Joe Biden’s victory.

In light of the charges, the Secretary of State’s Office stripped Grot of his election duties last month, and the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks suspended Grot’s membership rights. But Grot has retained other clerk duties for his township.

As Diez spoke at the meeting, he held up a copy of what he said was the certificate of the votes that the false electors had signed in 2020. His wife followed with her own criticism.

“You tried to overturn an election and you tried to end democracy as we know it,” said Alisa Diez in her 3-minute remarks during the public comments.

Shelby Township Clerk Stanley Grot listens at Tuesday’s township board meeting to a resident call for him to be removed as clerk or face a recall.

Grot listened to and faced his critics but did not address them, appearing mostly unemotional during the meeting.

At least one woman spoke in defense of Grot during public comment, asking the clerk’s detractors to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Representatives from voting rights organizations, like All Voting Is Local and Voters Not Politicians, also attended Tuesday’s meeting and presented a letter to the board asking the trustees to formally seek Grot’s resignation.

Before the meeting, protestors stood outside the library carrying placards, some of which read “Cut the rot, recall Grot” and “Grot must go.” The protests were peaceful and demonstrators put their signs away before going into the meeting.

Laura Brown told Votebeat Michigan before the meeting that she wants Grot to leave office because of the accusations and indictment against him.

“Anybody who knowingly submitted forged documents should be removed,” said Brown Tuesday.

Syma Echeandia said the best thing for the community is for Grot to resign.

“He has committed a crime, and we’re not stupid,” Echeandia said at the meeting. “He has attempted to defraud voters of Michigan, not just Shelby Township but the entire state. I understand the law, you can’t have him eliminated here. I understand that we have to do a recall. If the man has any grace whatsoever he would step down and he would avoid all this angst and aggravation that we have to put up with.”

Grot’s attorney, Derek Wilczynski, addressed the crowd Tuesday saying his client has no intention of stepping down.

“Mr. Grot is innocent until proven guilty,” said Wilczynski. “A fundamental principle of our government is that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.”

Wilczynski said he heard things said about his client at the meeting that are “fundamentally untrue,” including allegations that Grot signed the false electors’ certificate.

“Mr. Grot is accused of signing this document with the intent to defraud. That’s not what is even in the affidavit supporting the charges in this case,” said Wilczynski. “The charges against Mr. Grot are so thin, I’m confident he’s going to be found innocent. He looks forward to defending these charges and he looks forward to clearing his name.”

Wilzynski added that “this is at its core a political prosecution.”

No requests for petitions to begin the process of a recall or phone calls regarding possible recall of Grot had been received as of Wednesday morning, according to a staffer in the Macomb County’s Board of Canvassers office.

Grot’s four-year term is up in November 2024. Under state law, he would not be subject to a recall petition filed in his last year.

Initiating a recall election of a public official in Michigan requires following an extensive formal process. The effort in Shelby Township would require petitioners to gather 9,649 signatures of local voters supporting such an election, equal to 25 percent of the township residents who voted in last year’s gubernatorial election.

A key Republican figure in Macomb County, Grot was appointed as Shelby Township clerk in 2012 and elected for each of his terms since. He previously served as Sterling Heights councilman and in various Macomb County positions including commissioner and the county’s deputy treasurer.

Grot is also a former chairman of the Macomb County Republican Party and is currently the 10th Congressional District Republican chairman.

Michigan recently saw a successful recall of a local clerk in May, when voters in Adams Township in Hillsdale County removed Clerk Stephanie Scott. The Secretary of State’s Office had stripped Scott of her election duties after she refused to conduct mandatory routine maintenance of the township’s voting system, which she alleged might contain evidence of cheating in the 2020 election.

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Bridge Michigan. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.

Shelby Township clerk accused of being “false elector” has been stripped of elections duties

2023-07-20T19:31:09+00:00

The Shelby Township clerk who has been criminally charged as part of an alleged “false electors” scheme to overturn the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump has been ordered to step aside from his official election duties.

Michigan Elections Director Jonathan Brater Thursday sent an official letter informing Stanley Grot, a longtime Republican politician, that he is being relieved of duties related to elections administration while the criminal case against him plays out.

Grot and 15 others were charged Tuesday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel with:

One count of conspiracy to commit forgery, a 14-year felony;
Two counts of forgery, a 14-year felony;
One count of conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony;
One count of uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony;
One count of conspiracy to commit election law forgery, a 14-year felony;
Two counts of election law forgery, a 5-year felony.

The defendants are accused of secretly meeting on Dec. 14, 2020 in the basement of the Michigan Republican Party headquarters to hatch a plan to submit forged certificates falsely confirming the state had voted for Trump, despite Joe Biden’s victory.

“These false documents were then transmitted to the United States Senate and National Archives in a coordinated effort to award the state’s electoral votes to the candidate of their choosing, in place of the candidates actually elected by the people of Michigan,” Nessel said in a press release Tuesday announcing the felony charges.,” Nessel, a Democrat, said in a press release Tuesday announcing the felony charges.

Grot, 71, was appointed Shelby Township clerk in February 2012, then elected in November 2012 and has been in the position since then. He previously served as a Sterling Heights city councilman and as a Macomb county commissioner.

In the three-page letter, dated July 20, 2023, Brater informed Grot that he is to refrain from performing his official election duties until and unless the matter is resolved in his favor.

“Allegations that you have violated Michigan criminal and election statutes by attempting to award the state’s electoral votes to candidates other than those actually elected by the people of Michigan fundamentally undermines voter confidence in the integrity of elections,” Brater wrote.

Brater added: “Therefore, in order to ensure public trust and confidence in the integrity and security of elections, I am instructing you to refrain from administering any elections held in Shelby Township while these charges are pending against you.”

Grot did not respond to calls and emails from Votebeat Michigan over two days.

On Wednesday, before Brater’s letter, Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini defended Grot’s work record, saying, “He’s done a good job and there’s been no controversy in what he’s done in his job as the clerk.”

Forlini, a Republican, said he doesn’t think the case “has anything to do with him being a clerk.”

The 15 others charged in addition to Grot are: former Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddock of Milford; Wyoming, Mich., Mayor Kent Vanderwood; Kathy Berden of Snover; William (Hank) Choate of Cement City; Amy Facchinello of Grand Blanc; Clifford Frost of Warren; John Haggard of Charlevoix; Mary-Ann Henry of Brighton; Timothy King of Ypsilanti; Michele Lundgren of Detroit; James Renner of Lansing; Mayra Rodriguez of Grosse Pointe Farms; Rose Rook of Paw Paw; Marian Sheridan of West Bloomfield; and Ken Thompson of Orleans.

Nessell said Tuesday that “the false electors’ actions undermined the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan.”

July 21, 2023: This article has been updated to provide the full list of people who have been charged in the case.

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Bridge Michigan. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.

Shelby Township clerk accused of being “false elector” has been stripped of elections duties

2023-07-20T19:31:09+00:00

Grot and 15 others were charged Tuesday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel with:

One count of conspiracy to commit forgery, a 14-year felony;
Two counts of forgery, a 14-year felony;
One count of conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony;
One count of uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony;
One count of conspiracy to commit election law forgery, a 14-year felony;
Two counts of election law forgery, a 5-year felony.

In the three-page letter, dated July 20, 2023, Brater informed Grot that he is to refrain from performing his official election duties until and unless the matter is resolved in his favor.

Grot did not respond to calls and emails from Votebeat Michigan over two days.

Forlini, a Republican, said he doesn’t think the case “has anything to do with him being a clerk.”

July 21, 2023: This article has been updated to provide the full list of people who have been charged in the case.

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Bridge Michigan. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.

Shelby Township clerk accused of being “false elector” has been stripped of elections duties

2023-07-20T19:31:09+00:00

Grot and 15 others were charged Tuesday by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel with:

One count of conspiracy to commit forgery, a 14-year felony;
Two counts of forgery, a 14-year felony;
One count of conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony;
One count of uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony;
One count of conspiracy to commit election law forgery, a 14-year felony;
Two counts of election law forgery, a 5-year felony.

In the three-page letter, dated July 20, 2023, Brater informed Grot that he is to refrain from performing his official election duties until and unless the matter is resolved in his favor.

Grot did not respond to calls and emails from Votebeat Michigan over two days.

Forlini, a Republican, said he doesn’t think the case “has anything to do with him being a clerk.”

July 21, 2023: This article has been updated to provide the full list of people who have been charged in the case.

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Bridge Michigan. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.

Bill in Michigan House would let 16-year-olds kick-start their voter registration early

2023-05-30T17:50:20+00:00

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.

Ruth Singleton’s grandmother and great-aunt were in their 80s and 90s when they first registered to vote, motivated by Barack Obama’s campaign. Singleton, of Auburn Hills, was in her mid-20s when she first registered.

She hopes her daughter Nya, 16, won’t wait as long.

A bill in the Michigan legislature could give Nya her chance soon. The proposal would allow 16-year-olds to preregister to vote. Then they are automatically eligible to cast a ballot on the very day they turn 18. Currently in Michigan, only teens who are 17½ can preregister.

Supporters of the bill say lowering the age for preregistration (which does not allow people under 18 to actually vote) prepares young adults to participate sooner and more actively in democracy. Election officials say it also eases the registration process later, enabling smoother voting overall.

State Rep. Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) introduced House Bill 4569 last week during a House Elections Committee hearing. Coffia said local clerks encouraged her to introduce the measure and she believes pre-registration of younger teens will “increase the likelihood” of more “robust” participation of young people in elections over time.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia already allow the preregistration of 16-year-olds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Coffia said 16 is a good age to get pre-registered because it’s when teens typically take on “significant” legal responsibilities, such as getting a driver’s license, and is when their civics or government studies classes can give students a “newfound enthusiasm” for the democratic process.

“It can help increase voter turnout in our state,” said Coffia during the hearing.

Michigan had the highest rate of young voters during the November 2022 election, according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office: 37 percent of voters 18-29 cast ballots, compared with 23 percent nationwide. Young voters historically are more likely to vote for Democrats, research shows.

But there are also younger Michigan residents who are not engaged in voting even when they turn 18 because they are “uninformed … disengaged or for another reason,” Coffia said.

Nya Singleton, a sophomore at Lake Orion High School, said she and her classmates view voting as a way to make needed social and political changes on issues such as Black Lives Matter and women’s rights.

“They want to be able to voice their opinion and have it be beneficial to their lives,” Nya said of her classmates. “Having a vote can impact their lives and their families.”

Democratic state Rep. Matt Koleszar, a former teacher who represents part of northwestern Wayne County, said that if the bill becomes law, it will have significant returns for democracy.

“The [Advanced Placement] government teacher in me loves every part of this right now, “ said Koleszar. “It’s getting the youngest voting block engaged early.”

Koleszar added that when the school where he worked held registration events, “we would find a pretty long line of 17½-year-olds.”

Canton Township Clerk Michael Siegrist, was among several clerks testifying Tuesday in support of the bill. Siegrist said age 16 is an ideal opportunity to get a future voter entered into the registration system, calling it “super convenient,” because it’s when they’re getting processed for a driver’s license and it’s efficient to transfer their official, verified personal information into their voter registration while they’re at the Secretary of State office. Otherwise, they might not get the same convenience until they return to get a new license at 21.

“So there’s people in that little window to get registered,” Siegrist told Votebeat in an interview. “We’ve been putting a lot of energy and effort into trying to do voter registration drives at the high schools to get these folks registered when they’re 17½, so that they are registered for the next election.”

Interim East Lansing City Clerk Marie Wicks said the bill could potentially eliminate the extremely long polling place waits Michigan college students experienced on Election Day last November. Throngs of voters at the campuses of University of Michigan and Michigan State stood in line for hours, stretching in the wee hours of morning due to high turnout and on-site voter registration for some out-of-state students and first-time voters, which takes extra time.

“It would be a huge time saver for us,” said Wicks.

State Rep. Jay DeBoyer, a Republican elections committee member who represents parts of St. Clair and Macomb counties, signaled opposition to the preregistration bill, and the Democrats’ other new election bills, in a statement after the hearing, saying Michigan lawmakers should focus on addressing “concerns” that have arisen in recent elections rather than “moving forward with new proposals that would likely create more questions and further water down our process.” He said he was concerned about “logistics and costs” of preregistration and noted Colorado spent $600,000 to implement a preregistration program in 2013.

Unlike in Colorado, however, Michigan’s preregistration program is already implemented, and because the bill only lowers the eligibility age, clerks and voting experts say they don’t anticipate any additional costs. DeBoyer did not respond to Votebeat’s request for comment.

Peter de Guzman, an associate researcher on young voter turnout at Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, explained how the current process would accommodate younger teens who preregister.

“They fill out the same form as another eligible voter and then they are marked as pending on the voter file until they become eligible … until the date passes when they are 18,” de Guzman said. “I don’t expect it to be costly.”

Studies have shown that allowing 16-years-old to preregister can have major benefits, said Joshua Douglas, a professor at the University of Kentucky’s law school who also serves on the advisory board for the advocacy organization Vote16 USA.

“The evidence we have from the states that have done that demonstrates that voter turnout among young people does increase,” said Douglas, an expert on election law. “But I think there’s even an intangible effect as well, not just on turnout but on starting the conversation about voting and civics education earlier.”

Douglas added: “The key here is to break down barriers to turnout.”

Ruth Singleton said the change could help ensure young people like her daughter register before they turn 18, a busy time in life when they are barraged with other commitments, such as preparing for college.

She hopes the bill passes because it will get more young people looking forward to voting.

“Voting really shapes the world,” Singleton said.

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org. This article is made possible through a partnership with Bridge Michigan, Michigan’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit news publication.

Bill in Michigan House would let 16-year-olds kick-start their voter registration early

2023-05-30T17:50:20+00:00

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.

She hopes her daughter Nya, 16, won’t wait as long.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia already allow the preregistration of 16-year-olds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“It can help increase voter turnout in our state,” said Coffia during the hearing.

But there are also younger Michigan residents who are not engaged in voting even when they turn 18 because they are “uninformed … disengaged or for another reason,” Coffia said.

“They want to be able to voice their opinion and have it be beneficial to their lives,” Nya said of her classmates. “Having a vote can impact their lives and their families.”

Democratic state Rep. Matt Koleszar, a former teacher who represents part of northwestern Wayne County, said that if the bill becomes law, it will have significant returns for democracy.

“The [Advanced Placement] government teacher in me loves every part of this right now, “ said Koleszar. “It’s getting the youngest voting block engaged early.”

Koleszar added that when the school where he worked held registration events, “we would find a pretty long line of 17½-year-olds.”

“It would be a huge time saver for us,” said Wicks.

Douglas added: “The key here is to break down barriers to turnout.”

She hopes the bill passes because it will get more young people looking forward to voting.

“Voting really shapes the world,” Singleton said.

Bill in Michigan House would let 16-year-olds kick-start their voter registration early

2023-05-30T17:50:20+00:00

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.

She hopes her daughter Nya, 16, won’t wait as long.

Fifteen states and the District of Columbia already allow the preregistration of 16-year-olds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

“It can help increase voter turnout in our state,” said Coffia during the hearing.

But there are also younger Michigan residents who are not engaged in voting even when they turn 18 because they are “uninformed … disengaged or for another reason,” Coffia said.

“They want to be able to voice their opinion and have it be beneficial to their lives,” Nya said of her classmates. “Having a vote can impact their lives and their families.”

Democratic state Rep. Matt Koleszar, a former teacher who represents part of northwestern Wayne County, said that if the bill becomes law, it will have significant returns for democracy.

“The [Advanced Placement] government teacher in me loves every part of this right now, “ said Koleszar. “It’s getting the youngest voting block engaged early.”

Koleszar added that when the school where he worked held registration events, “we would find a pretty long line of 17½-year-olds.”

“It would be a huge time saver for us,” said Wicks.

Douglas added: “The key here is to break down barriers to turnout.”

She hopes the bill passes because it will get more young people looking forward to voting.

“Voting really shapes the world,” Singleton said.

“You saw him out more than anybody”: Aghogho Edevbie brings his voting rights passion from streets of Detroit to Department of State

2023-05-15T10:15:00+00:00

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for our free newsletters here.

The child of Nigerian immigrants, Aghogho Edevbie grew up enjoying a level of democracy that his parents could only dream of.

That appreciation of his rights as a U.S. citizen, especially the right to vote, has infused the work of the longtime Detroit voting rights activist and lawyer, who was earlier this year named Michigan’s deputy secretary of state.

“I believe every citizen in our country has a duty, in their own way, to keep our democracy strong,” Edevbie said. “I am doing my part, especially at a time when our democratic institutions are under attack.”

For Edevbie, doing his part started with pounding the pavement of Detroit’s neighborhoods back in 2010 during his law school days, helping residents register to vote. Now, in his role helping oversee election systems in a key swing state with nearly 8 million voters, Edevbie brings not only legal knowledge but also a valuable background in political activism, say his former colleagues, other activists, and local public officials.

Edevbie, 35, is among the highest-ranking African American men to serve in the secretary of state’s office since Richard Austin, Michigan’s first Black secretary of state, who was in office from 1971 to 1995.

“I hope that people see me and realize that there is a place for everyone in every corner of the government,” said Edevbie.

Since his arrival at the Department of State in March, Edevbie has been joined by Heaster Wheeler, a former assistant secretary of state from 2019 to 2022 who last month returned as a senior advisor to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, deepening the department’s ranks of Black men.

A lifelong Detroiter, Edevbie graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, earned a bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of Michigan, has practiced law with Detroit area firms and for the Wayne County government, and taught at a high school in Tanzania. Edevbie was most recently state director of All Voting Is Local for three years, and ran for the Michigan House of Representatives in the 6th District in 2018.

Hannah Fried, executive director for All Voting Is Local, said her former colleague’s experience will make him effective.

“Aghogho’s got virtually unparalleled understanding of Michigan election law and practice — but even more than that, he’s practical. He’s always considering what will actually work for voters, for elections officials, and for the many other stakeholders who make our democracy run,” she said.

Among Edevbie’s early memories of his activism was Election Day 2010, when he arrived at an Ann Arbor voting site to work as a poll challenger only to find at least a dozen voters waiting for the polling place to open, even though it was after the official start time.

“I quickly got the attention of the poll workers and told them they had to open the polling location. After some initial back-and-forth, they realized that polls had to open at 7 a.m. and not 8 a.m. The voters in that line all got to vote. Being able to help those voters that day got me hooked, and I have been involved in protecting voters ever since,” Edevbie recalled.

Edevbie spent years serving as a poll challenger, including as a nonpartisan representative of All Voting Is Local in 2020 at the TCF Center (now Huntington Place) in Detroit, where pro-Trump groups carried out mob-style protests of Wayne County’s absentee ballot counting boards.

“It was clear to me that many of them had little knowledge of election law, and were only trying to find avenues to disrupt the count and meet their preconceived notions,” Edevbie said, describing himself as “disappointed, angry, and disgusted” by the disruptive protesters.

Edevbie said the undaunted work of the counting boards that night is “an example of the resilience of our democracy,” the kind of effort that “motivates me every day. ”

A Focus on Legislative Action

As deputy secretary of state, one of the highest-ranking election officials in Michigan, Edevbie is part of the department’s decision-making over the voting process. Edevbie says he sees his new job as helping ensure everyone has a direct path to the ballot box, especially by preventing voter intimidation and misinformation.

At the center of that is helping to win passage of the forthcoming Michigan Voting Rights Act, a series of measures in the works from Benson that would, among other actions, make it a felony to harass and intimidate election workers and voters, or to deceive voters. The legislation will also seek to provide adequate funding to local clerks for safety and security expenses.

Edevbie said the bill, which is expected to be introduced this summer, is a much-needed piece of legislation.

“The federal law has been undermined by the Supreme Court,” said Edevbie of recent rulings striking down parts of the federal Voting Rights Act. “Our intent with this bill is to put into place a structure and framework that protects voters for future generations to come.”

Edevbie said he will also be working with the Legislature on a bill to implement the voting reforms of Proposal 2, such as early in-person voting, and on all election-related budget requests. His job also will include working with clerks and community organizations on outreach and education, especially improving the student voting experience by reducing Election Day lines on campuses.

Michigan topped other states in having the highest rate of youth voters in the November 2022 election, according to the state. Student turnout was high especially at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, where students crowded campus polling places, leading to hours-long waits and pushing voting late into the night.

“Exactly What We Need Right Now”

Wayne County Board of Commissioner Jonathan Kinloch says that in addition to his legal background, Edevbie brings a great deal of dedication to voting rights. He is a “boots on the ground” activist who stayed close to community groups and voters who often had fears and complaints about possible voter intimidation, Kinloch said. Edevbie, for instance, organized Zoom instructional meetings and panels last year to help voters understand voting and election laws.

“It was him and his foresight convening those,” said Kinloch, who was previously an election official on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.

That was how Edevbie brought together neighborhood groups and got them engaged in conversation about voting, Kinloch said. If there was a local government meeting, such as the Board of Canvassers, with only three members of the public there, Edevbie would be one of them.

“He was on the streets. You saw him at Huntington Place. You saw him at election polling places. You saw him out more than anybody. … He’s truly dedicated to the effort. A lot of people talk about it, but Aghogho is really about it … doing the work.”

Nancy Wang, the executive director of Voters Not Politicians, worked with Edevie when he was at All Voting Is Local to launch a website in 2020 showing voters across the state where to find ballot dropboxes in their communities.

“It’s an example of how he invests in tools to help voters in different ways,” said Wang, who called Edevbie “exactly what we need right now.”

Edevbie has dedicated his career to voters and has always focused on how to protect voting rights, said Wang, who sees him as a “natural leader” who gets things done.

“Michigan has passed so many voting-rights advances in the last four years and now we need to implement them and that takes a lot of people working together in the same direction. I think Aghogho as deputy Secretary of State will be a kind of natural leader to fill that role.”

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.

After MSU shooting, election officials make emotional case to ban guns at polling places and drop boxes

2023-03-02T00:45:26+00:00

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S.

A hearing on legislation to ban guns within 100 feet of the entrance to polling sites and drop boxes brought out emotional and passionate testimony Tuesday from both supporters of the bill and gun-rights advocates in the wake of February’s deadly mass shooting at Michigan State University.

Clerks from East Lansing and Detroit tearfully told state lawmakers that a ban is needed to protect election workers and the public.

Marie Wicks, the interim city clerk for East Lansing, told lawmakers the Michigan State shooting in her city has left her “struggling to process” the tragedy. She oversees five off-campus precincts that have a heavy student presence, and said she is concerned how MSU students going to vote would react to seeing a weapon at a polling site.

“I cannot fathom how triggering for them a weapon would be in a polling location and quite possibly for many others including … past victims of gun violence,” Wicks said Tuesday.

The current atmosphere of threats and harassment, she said, have made it difficult to attract and retain clerks and election workers.

Asked about her opposition to guns near polling places, Wicks responded, “It doesn’t require a gun to vote.”

During her testimony in support of a ban, Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey told lawmakers of being personally threatened after the 2020 election, including receiving insulting and threatening messages on her private cell phone.

The “greatest threat,” she said, came one morning while taking a walk through her neighborhood. Winfrey said she was approached by a man about the results of the 2020 election.

“ ‘I’ve been waiting for you at work, so I decided to come to your house,’ ” Winfrey testified the man told her. “ ‘Why did you cheat and why did you allow Trump to lose? You’re going to pay dearly for your actions in this election.’ Mind you he was approaching me in a threatening manner and coming closer and closer.”

Winfrey said she later received a Facebook message from the man, who wrote that he was “going to blow up my block,” and that the man also started calling her names. She notified police, prompting police patrols in her neighborhood.

Michigan Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou, a Democrat and the chair of the House Elections Committee, is one of the sponsors of a package of bills aimed at protecting voters and election workers from harassment and intimidation. Democrats now hold the majority in the House and Senate, and are confident the bill has enough support to pass a committee vote.

Tsernoglu said at the hearing that the legislation, House Bill 4127, would ban firearms within 100 feet of the entrance of polling places or early-voting sites and drop boxes for absentee ballots during elections. The penalty would be up to 90 days’ imprisonment and/or a $100 fine, and the bill has no exception for gun owners with a concealed carry permit.

The lawmaker said harassment and threats of violence against election workers remain a chief concern.

“Some workers felt the need to hire security, flee their homes or seek counseling for their children for threats they have received,” said Tsernaglou. In addition, she said, more than 1,000 threats against election workers over recent election cycles are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The fear of threats of violence is so bad, said Tsernaglou, that some election officials said they will not work during the 2024 elections, causing a “critical shortage” of election workers.

Democratic Rep. Stephanie Young is sponsoring a companion bill, HB 4128, aimed at protecting workers at locations where absentee ballots are processed and counted.

Young noted that election workers at the TCF Center in downtown Detroit, now Huntington Place, were in fear for their lives during the November 2020 election when mobs of protestors shook doors and threatened to storm the area where workers were counting ballots.

“Whenever someone exercises their right to vote, it should be inherent that they’re safe when they do that. It should also be inherent that election workers are just as safe and not under the pressure or the anxiety of intimidation,” Young said.

For Brenden Boudreau, the executive director for Great Lakes Gun Rights, a ban on guns near polling sites would be “dangerous.”

“These laws are very restrictive,” Boudreau said during his testimony Tuesday. “ [Gun carry laws] in Michigan are already pretty restrictive.”

Michigan bans guns in many places that typically serve as polling sites, including schools, churches, and sports arenas. Currently, 12 states and Washington, D.C., have bans on guns at polling places, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Guns around drop boxes became a particular concern during the 2022 election in Arizona, after reports of armed observers watching voters using drop boxes in Maricopa County.

In a press release Monday, Boudreau called the proposal “an affront to the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Michiganders” and “a solution in search of a problem.”

Brady Schickinger, executive director of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, testified that while his organization agrees with the “general intent of the bill that everyone should feel safe while voting,” the bill could potentially punish responsible gun owners with a misdemeanor charge for carrying a firearm near a polling place.

Schickinger said some polling sites and drop boxes are located near busy roads, businesses, and public sidewalks, which could potentially make Michigan’s 800,000 concealed-carry permit holders open to criminal offenses.

“This bill would result in the hundreds of thousands of people routinely committing 90-day misdemeanors,” Schickinger said Tuesday.

Republican state Rep. Rachelle Smit, also a member of the House Elections Committee, asked about such a ban possibly violating the constitutional right of people with permits to carry concealed handguns if the proposed legislation becomes law.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, lobbied for a gun ban at polling places shortly after the MSU shooting in East Lansing, where three students were killed and five others were wounded.

“The time for only thoughts and prayers is over,” said Benson in a Feb. 16 press release. The secretary of state noted that many other states, including Georgia, already ban guns in polling places.

Benson sought a gun ban at polling places in 2020 but was rebuffed by a judge

Benson’s request for the new restriction was part of a larger proposal for new laws called the Michigan Voting Rights Act, which she said will “mirror and expand upon” constitutional protections Michigan voters approved in November through Ballot Proposal 2.

Another hearing on the proposed ban is expected to be held before the House Elections Committee, but has not yet been scheduled.

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.

Flint pulls off smooth election, free from voter intimidation or poll watcher interference

2022-11-09T22:19:12+00:00

FLINT—After fears of Election Day “violence and disruption” in Michigan, and signs that far-right activists were mobilizing as poll workers and election challengers, officials were relieved to see that those threats didn’t materialize. There were no major reports of conflicts as of late Tuesday night. Even the polling place glitches and delays voters saw in other states were rare in Michigan.

Like most cities around the state, Flint prepared for the worst and instead experienced an election that appeared — under the direction of a brand-new replacement for the city clerk — to have gone off smoothly.

Inside Flint’s counting room for absentee ballots on the third floor of City Hall, there was constant scrutiny from partisan poll challengers late into the night but no disruptions. The clerk and her staff worked into early Wednesday morning, past 1 a.m., to count thousands of absentee ballots as some 10 Republican challengers and two Democratic challengers watched.

The GOP challengers identified themselves as members of the Michigan Republican Party, but declined to comment further. A staff member said two ACLU attorneys were also among those watching the process.

Most times during the night and into the morning, the GOP challengers milled about the two dozen election workers. At one point one of them, a young man, pulled up a chair within about four feet of two female workers to watch them sort and examine absentee ballots. (Michigan election rules forbid challengers from getting too close to election workers or election materials to avoid disruption of the election workers’ duties.)

Interim Flint City Clerk Davina Donahue worked at Flint City Hall as absentee ballots are tabulated by city workers while election challengers watch on.

Interim Flint City Clerk Davina Donahue said there were no confrontations and no major challenges during the process. Donahue didn’t have information late Tuesday that any absentee ballot was rejected as the result of inquiries or potential challenge of one.

Flint NAACP President Frances Gilcreast, one of the election observers in the room, said she was there to make sure everyone’s vote was protected and treated fairly, stressing that ruling on a challenge to a ballot must be done fairly. Poll observers, who have a less-involved role than challengers in Michigan, also watched the counting.

“You don’t just throw out a ballot because someone challenges it,” said Gilcreast.

Also closely watching voting in Flint on Election Day were federal monitors from the Department of Justice. In Michigan — one of 24 states where monitors were dispatched — the agents also visited Detroit, Southfield, Pontiac, and Grand Rapids, on the lookout for possible voter intimidation.

The two DOJ monitors, a man and a woman, stopped by Flint City Hall to meet with Donahue before they headed out to two precincts in the city.

Frances Gilcreast, president of the Flint branch of the NAACP, walks around the room while serving as an election challenger.

“Voter intimidation was their main focus,” said Donahue. “They thought people were going to be at the polls trying to intimidate voters.”

Donahue and her staff worked past 1 a.m. to count Flint’s 7,500 absentee ballots, out of 10,000 requested. Despite the frenzy of election and challengers steadily coming

Donahue was running her first election since becoming interim clerk barely a month ago. She said it was a “baptism of fire” for her.

After working in the clerk’s office since 2006, most recently as deputy clerk, she took over the elections duties after the retirement of longtime clerk Inez Brown in September. Now Donahue is seeking to be named permanently to the job by the Flint City Council, which means participating in a lengthy selection process that begins Wednesday.

Former Flint City Councilman Wantwaz Davis outside of his polling location at Doyle-Ryder Elementary School in Flint on Election Day 2022.

Across Flint, voters like Wantwaz Davis went to polling places and cast their vote without reporting hassles or trouble.

“Everybody had good access,” said Davis, himself a former Flint councilman. “[Voting] went smoothly.”

Davis, the owner of a custodial company, said he hopes everyone is inspired to vote and realizes the privilege of doing so.

For Doug Hodo, voting in-person is a tradition and he was happy it was effortless Tuesday.

Like Davis, Hodo voted at the Doyle-Ryder Elementary School on Saginaw Street.

“I like to see all the other voters,” said Hodo of deciding to cast his vote at a polling site instead of by absentee ballot.

A steady stream of voters filled the gymnasium at Doyle-Ryder. Endia Crowder, a reading interventionist at the Burton Glen Charter Academy, said she couldn’t let Election Day go by without doing her “citizen’s duty.”

“I respect my right as a U.S. citizen,” Crowder said as she headed into the school to join other voters.

Endia Crowder outside of the polling location at Doyle-Ryder Elementary School in Flint.

Donahue said she heard from precincts that voter traffic seemed particularly high in the city but did not have exact turnout numbers Tuesday.

The only notable blot on Flint’s otherwise quiet Election Day was an allegedly drunk and disorderly election worker.

Police were called to Haskell Community Center on Forest Hill Avenue around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a poll worker “who appeared to be intoxicated,” said Flint Police Chief Terence Green wrote on the department’s Facebook page.

When police responded to the polling site, they were told that the poll worker had fled on foot, leaving his bicycle. Then the worker returned once police left and made violent threats, Green said on Facebook. Police came back and took the man into custody.

This article is made possible through a partnership with Bridge Michigan, Michigan’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit news publication.

Oralandar Brand-Williams is a senior reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Bridge Michigan. Contact Oralandar at obrand-williams@votebeat.org.