Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press

LANSING - Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill that will eliminate single-party, straight ticket voting in Michigan, but urged the state Senate to also pass a bill that will allow voters to cast absentee ballots without having to provide a reason.

“Michigan joins 40 other states that require voters to select an individual for each elective office, rather than simply selecting a political party,” Snyder wrote in a letter explaining why he signed the bill. “As governor, I have strived to put people before politics and strongly encourage voters to do the same.”

Straight ticket voting allows voters to fill in one box on the ballot to support all Democrats or all Republicans all the way down the ballot. Local clerks have said the option has helped speed voting lines, which tend to get quite long, especially in urban areas during presidential election years.

Republican state Rep. Lisa Lyons, R-Alto, tried to address those concerns by linking the no reason absentee bill to the elimination of straight ticket voting, but Republicans in the state Senate broke the tie bar, saying that absentee voting should not be expanded.

Snyder agreed with Lyons. “Voters should have at least 15 days to vote by absentee before election day. I urge the Senate to pass the (no reason absentee) bill and send it to me as soon as possible to be signed into law. This will not only provide greater access to the polls, it will also help alleviate long lines at the ballot box."

The Senate is unlikely to bring up the absentee voting bill. Both Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, who controls the Senate's agenda, and Sen.David Robertson, R-Grand Blanc, are adamently opposed to any expansion of absentee voting.

Related: Michigan Senate, House OK end to straight ticket voting

Democrats argued that the bills would disenfranchise voters, who become frustrated by long lines and are forced to leave before voting. In 2014, in Oakland County, 109,711 people voted a straight Democratic ticket while 108,211 voted a straight Republican ticket. But in Wayne County, 224,806 people voted a straight Democratic ticket while 71,846 people voted a straight Republican ticket. In Macomb County, 60,048 people voted straight Democratic while 53,130 voted straight Republican.

Many blasted Snyder for signing the bill, saying the legislation only serves to make voting harder for people.

Ron Bieber, chairman of the Michigan chapter of the AFL-CIO, said: "Instead of creating new barriers to the ballot box, they should be working to expand access to voting through no-reason absentee voting and expanded early voting."

And Brandon Dillon, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said the measure puts politics above people.

"This is another clear and direct attack by Republicans on voting rights in Michigan," he said.

Republicans have tried twice to get rid of straight-ticket voting, which is seen as benefiting Democrats. But voters have rejected those efforts both times. That option has been eliminated in 40 states, but Michigan is one of only 13 states that doesn't have some form of early voting.

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.

The bill signing came on the same day that local officials begged Snyder to veto another election-related bill that would prohibit municipal and school officials from communicating with their residents about ballot issues in the 60 days leading up to an election.

It's already illegal for communities or school districts to advocate for a ballot proposal or millage, and several complaints have been filed with the Secretary of State over the years by people who felt their communities were inappropriately using taxpayer resources to push a ballot proposal.

But supporters have said that the law doesn't go far enough to stop tax dollars from being used by officials to urge voters to support a millage or bond issue.

The bill, SB 571 which was hastily passed with no public hearings on the last day of the legislative session in December, also would allow candidates to shift campaign contributions from one election cycle to a previous cycle to pay off debts, That switch would effectively double campaign contributions for candidates -- a year after the Legislature already doubled those limits.

But it was the "gag order" portion of the legislation that riled the locals, who held a press conference in Lansing Tuesday decrying the consequences of the bill..

"This is a matter of free speech, too. If we have a council meeting and we’re talking about something, that could be looked at as a violation," which carries penalties of up to $20,000, said Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly.

"We inform and the voters decide. But SB 571 would wreck that system by blocking us from providing that vital information when voters are paying the most attention," said Tuscola County Commissioner Matthew Bierlein, "The state would be imposing a gag order on the people who know the most about an issue."

Snyder spokesman Dave Murray said the governor is still reviewing the bill and is aware of the concerns of local officials.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal