These 39 bills are not original ideas, as we are seeing this type of voter disenfranchisement legislation being introduced all over the nation, especially in the states that former President Donald Trump lost. Even prior to the introduction of the Michigan Senate Republicans’ voter suppression bill package, similar bills have been introduced in 43 other states.
Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 3 in 2018, expanding voter access to the ballot (no-reason absentee voting, same-day voter registration, automatic voter registration), but here we have legislators actively working against the will of Michigan citizens, trying to make it more difficult to vote — nibbling around the edges of these constitutional changes. This tactic is on-brand for the Michigan GOP, since, as Leader Shirkey told us, more people voting is bad for Republican candidates.