DEVELOPING: Gov. Snyder signs bill eliminating straight-party ticket voting

A separate bill is in the Michigan Legislature that would allow for no-reason absentee voting, so those that are concerned over the wait can have more time to look over the ballot.

Snyder said in a signing letter that he interprets the bill’s language differently than local officials, but also asked the Legislature to enact a new bill that will address those concerns.

It contains an appropriation of $5 million for the purchase of new voting equipment to ease Election Day logistical concerns.

Rick Snyder signed a bill Wednesday afternoon that has local officials anxious that they won’t be able to inform the public about upcoming ballot issues. “This is supposed to be a democracy”.

“I won’t quit”, Johnson said.

WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick says Democrats have accused the GOP of seeking partisan gain by doing away with a convenient option. Voters twice before have preserved the straight-ticket option in referendums.

Almost half of the voters in Michigan’s proverbial bellwether, suburban Detroit’s Oakland County, cast straight-party ballots in the 2014 general election. Some Republicans who voted for the legislation have said they did not realize its ramifications.

Critics of the move, like Progress Michigan, see Snyder’s move as a conservative attempt to rig elections.

If the measure is approved, anyone choosing the no-reason option would have to show identification and request an application in person for each election.

Municipal and school officials had likened the legislation to placing a gag order on their ability to communicate information to voters about property tax votes and other ballot issues using television, radio and print media.

“I don’t want this to deter even one voter”, Mizzi said, adding that “an informed electorate is the best electorate we could have”.