LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Roger Victory on Wednesday introduced a pair of election reform measures as part of a comprehensive package to ensure election access and integrity in Michigan.
“Our democratic system of representative government depends on elections that are fair, honest and accurate,” said Victory, R-Hudsonville. “It is our responsibility to restore the public’s confidence in our elections by protecting everyone’s vote, making it harder to commit fraud and improving the system to ensure indisputable integrity.
“I am proud to be a part of this package to help make smart and effective reforms. We must make sure the good people of Michigan have their constitutional right to vote protected and have complete trust in the outcome. It’s about preserving our democracy.”
Senate Bills 273-311 cover a wide variety of issues dealing with processes before, during and after an election, such as prohibiting the mass mailing of absentee ballot applications, requiring signature verification, establishing a chain of custody for absentee ballots, ensuring audits are bipartisan and open to the public, improving the management of the state’s Qualified Voter File, affirming and strengthening the role of the board of canvassers, and extending the canvassing period to certify the results from 14 to 21 days.
Victory sponsored two bills. SB 295 would require precinct workers to be trained in best practices for ensuring a balanced count in precincts, including checks on tabulators. SB 306 would require the secretary of state to prepare a report regarding clerks who are not current with training and post the report online.
The bills have been referred to the Senate Elections Committee for consideration.
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