LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan voters approved Proposal 2 last week, which means nine voting rights will become permanent in the state’s constitution.

Those rights include:

  • The fundamental right to vote without harassing conduct.
  • The requirement to count military or overseas ballots if postmarked by election day.
  • The voter right to verify identity with photo ID or signed statement.
  • The voter right to single application to vote absentee in all elections.
  • State-funded absentee-ballot drop boxes, and postage for absentee applications and ballots.
  • Provide that only election officials may conduct post-election audits.
  • Require nine days of early in-person voting.
  • Allow donations to fund elections, which must be disclosed.
  • Require canvass boards certify election results based only on the official records of votes cast.

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While that constitutional amendment may seem like an open-and-shut case to some, it is not a done deal when it comes to Michigan clerks.

Adam Wit, President of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks and the Harrison Township Clerk, told Michigan News Source this is “another dramatic change in election law” that will force clerks to adapt.

“It is so early in process,” Wit said. “We are meeting [Wednesday] to begin the process of what we want it to look like instead of someone else dictating the terms to us,” he said.

Wit explained that although this is a constitutional amendment, legislation must be tied to it.

“The proposal says nine days of early voting, but the Legislature could say 12 days,” Wit said. “There are a lot of question marks.”

One of the biggest question marks involves funding for early, in-person voting.

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“Funding is a big part of this,” Wit said. “They haven’t funded elections properly and this increases that challenge.”

It’s for these reasons and more that three former Michigan secretaries of state said Proposal 2 would take away election safeguards. Candice Miller, Terri Lynn Land, and Ruth Johnson all spoke out against Proposal 2, citing that the fine print guaranteed a recipe for voter fraud.

“Michigan is different than almost any other state in this nation,” Johnson said last month. “Our local clerks conduct the elections. They’re more accountable and transparent. How are you going to have clerks run nine days of elections? Half of them don’t have township offices. [That]means we’re likely to lose our local control and it would go higher up the political food chain.”

In addition, Proposal 2 provides a single application for people to vote absentee in all elections, requires the state to provide postage for absentee applications and ballots, and require state-funded absentee ballot drop boxes and more than one drop box for communities with more than 15,000 people.

“[Proposal 2] sets the floor for what we need to do, but not how to do it,” Wit said.