Michigan Senate, House OK end to straight ticket voting

Kathleen Gray | Detroit Free Press

LANSING -- After a day and night full of negotiations, the Legislature voted, mostly along party lines Wednesday to eliminate straight-party voting and removed a tie bar that would have allowed for no-reason absentee voting.

The votes - 24-12 in the Senate and 54-51 in the House, capped a day full of drama on the bills, which included a decision to adjourn in the Senate without taking up the election bills at about 5:30 p.m. But after two more hours of back-room dealings, Republicans decided to go ahead with the bills and by 8:45 p.m., they had voted to eliminate straight-ticket voting, sending the measure back to the House for consideration. The House followed suit with a vote at about 10:30 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, told reporters late Tuesday that he will keep the absentee voting bill in the Government Operations committee, which he chairs, without holding a hearing or vote on the matter. The Senate voted 20-17 to break the tie bar between the two bills.

"Expanding voting in other ways is just not the way this caucus feels it should be done," he said.

The vote came after several senators on both sides of the aisle gave heartfelt holiday speeches about the spirit of the season with the thought that the Senate was about to adjourn. That good cheer evaporated when Republicans reversed course and ended up cutting off any debate on the bill or most of the amendments offered by Democrats.

"Has our constitution been suspended in this state?" asked Sen. Steven Bieda, D-Warren. "This should be otherwise known as 'Donald Trump is your nominee and you're terrified of that' bill. This is one of the ugliest episodes of the Legislature trampling on the rights of people that I've ever seen."

By late Wednesday, after more than 10 hours filled with closed-door negotiations, the Senate decided to bring up the bill.. No Republicans spoke out in support of the bill and Sens. Tory Rocca, R-Sterling Heights, and Joe Hune, R-Whitmore Lake, joined all the Democrats in voting against the bill.

"The House Speaker told me he believed he could get it done and asked me to send it over," Meekhof said late Wednesday night..

The vast majority of clerks around the state and Democrats in the Legislature opposed the bill because they feel it will create confusion at the polls and dramatically lengthen lines at polling precincts, especially in urban areas where hours-long waits are already not unusual.

Straight-party ticket voting allows voters to fill in one circle on the ballot and vote for all the Democrats or all the Republicans on the ballot. Republicans have tried to get rid of straight-ticket voting, which is seen as benefiting Democrats, twice but voters have rejected those efforts both times. That option has been eliminated in 40 states.

This year, however, Republicans added a $5-million appropriation to the bill, claiming it will be used to help clerks adjust to the change with more voting equipment. But the appropriation also makes the measure immune from a referendum by voters. An amendment to remove that appropriation failed.

"I can think of a lot of ways we can use $5 million to help people. But in, this chamber it seems a lot less creative than that," said Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing. "You're purchasing an insurance policy against the will of the people. Call this what it is, a blatant attempt to shield bad policy against a referendum."

The straight-ticket elimination wasn't a surprise in the Senate, which holds a 27-11 Republican majority. But it was a much closer call in the House, which passed straight-ticket voting bill last week with the bare minimum of 54 votes.

State Rep. Lisa Lyons, R-Alto, who has said she has given some thought to a run for Kent County clerk, sponsored the no-reason absentee voting bill because she wanted to help alleviate the lines at polling places. She voted against breaking the tie-bar - one of five Republicans to join all the Democrats to do so and said she was disappointed.

"Because this bill falls short of addressing very legitimate concerns, in the end I could not support it," she said. "I do not believe this policy alone is in the best interest of Michigan's voters, and it is unfortunate that the legislature squandered the opportunity to enact good election reform that is not pro-republican or pro-democrat, but pro-voter."

Meekhof said he understood the concerns of local clerks, "because they're in charge of operations of elections, but they're not in charge of policy regarding elections, we are."

Snyder told the Free Press editorial board earlier this week that he wants people to have as many opportunities to vote as possible.

"I've been relatively pro-active in encouraging people to look at other options for absentee voting," he said. "I've learned as governor that that's how I usually end up voting.

"I'm watching it just like you are, so until I have something tangible on my desk, then I'll make my reviews," he added.