Nothing to see here, folks.
Just the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer vetoing a bill which would criminalize applying for multiple absentee ballots.
O, by the way, it would have also criminalize filling out someone else’s application without their consent.
From The Detroit News:
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed bills that would have made it a felony to knowingly try to apply for multiple absentee ballots or to fill out an application for others without their consent.
The Democratic governor said voter fraud — such as trying to vote more than once — already is a crime, and the Republican-sponsored legislation would “muddy the waters” and “likely confuse voters” about what conduct is criminal. In a letter to lawmakers Friday, she said it is “impossible” to get a second ballot without spoiling the first one and cautioned that people might submit multiple applications because of memory or error.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
“Any suggestion that the filing of a second absentee ballot application is criminal behavior creates needless confusion and fearmongering around the absentee voting process,” Whitmer wrote. “It is bad for voters and bad for our elections.
The main bill was passed by the GOP-controlled House and Senate on bipartisan 77-26 and 32-6 votes, with some Democrats opposed."
Michigan GOP Representative, Ann Bollin, one of the bill's sponsors, said this bill was about voter protection, not suppression.
FromFox News:
Whimter's veto drew heavy criticism from one of the bills' sponsors, GOP Rep. Ann Bollin, who said the legislation would have deterred fraud and enhanced voters’ confidence in elections amid “noise” about mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump has added to the din, raising his own questions about the integrity of mail voting. Election experts, however, generally say all forms of voter fraud are rare.
According to Bolin, the legislation had "nothing" to do with voters who fill out multiple applications or ballots themselves.
“This legislation would have created a felony penalty for someone who fills out an application for another person in an attempt to commit fraud,” she said. “That’s not voter intimidation – it’s voter protection.”
That this veto is coming from a woman who is trying to blame President Trump for anarchists plotting to kidnap her.
She has predictably taken advantage of the pandemic in her state to assume the role of a little dictator.
Luckily, she has been stripped of her emergency powers by the courts.
Hopefully voters in her state will recognize this veto for the attempt to steal elections that it is.
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