LANSING — Right now, the Big Lie crusade is pressing on as Republican state Senators on the Elections Committee gather for a hearing on the third chunk of voter suppression legislation introduced in March as part of the disastrous 39-bill package described by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as “more restrictive than Georgia’s.”
Some of the most egregious bills in the package are up today, including SB 286, which would arbitrarily lock drop boxes before voting is done, thus forcing voters to turn ballots in directly to county clerks. As if further evidence is needed to show that this piece of legislation is nothing more than an overture to appease Trump and suppress democratic participation for Michiganders, a bipartisan coalition of county clerks across the state’s 83 counties oppose these bills.
“As has become custom, the legislative priorities for Republicans in Lansing are out of touch and a complete disaster,” said Rodericka Applewhaite, MDP spokesperson. “Michiganders need strong leadership now more than ever as we move into the final push to contain COVID-19. Gov. Whitmer has been meeting the call — securing and distributing an historic amount of vaccines in record time, heeding the guidance of medical experts, and getting our economy back on track. Rather than work with her to move in one direction against this pandemic, Republicans have been utterly consumed by the Big Lie, bending over backwards to deny voters the freedom to have their voices heard. Michigan families can’t afford to wait for the GOP to snap back into reality.”
