Governor OKs end of straight-party voting option in Michigan

Gov. Rick Snyder endorsed the bill Tuesday while approving the removal of the straight-ticket option.

MI was one of only ten states that had allowed straight ticket voting and Snyder said it’s time to update the practice, to chose people over politics.

Almost half of the voters in Michigan’s proverbial bellwether, suburban Detroit’s Oakland County, cast straight-party ballots in the 2014 general election.

The bill prohibits local officials from publicly discussing ballot proposals or millage issues in the 60 days leading up to an election.

Straight ticket voting is officially a thing of the past in MI. “To alleviate concerns that this change could lead to longer wait times for voters, I’m asking the Legislature to enact secured no-reason absentee voting”.

Democrats have accused Republican lawmakers of seeking partisan gain by trying to do away with a convenient, popular option. Clerk Michael Sedlak says he intends to provide non-biased information to the public and if someone wants to come arrest him and put him in jail they can “have at it”.

That would allow voters to use an absentee ballot without meeting current state guidelines. But, while Snyder touts the bill as a way of updating and modernizing Michigan’s election law, Breeding believes cities will be “going back to a paper election”. But the appropriation also makes the measure immune from a referendum by voters. But they can give out fact sheets about ballot issues and let voters decide.

He encourages any voters who are anxious about being physically able to stand in the long lines to file for an absentee ballot and take their time making their choices.