Elections Can Have Good Consequences, Too
Elections Can Have Good Consequences, Too
Michigan shows us the way
If you’ve been reading this space the past couple weeks, you might think hope for democracy is lost. Fear not.
Michigan is proof that bold leaders aided by smart advisors can pass robust laws that support voters and protect democracy.
In November, Governor Whitmer signed nearly two dozen bills that put extra scaffolding around the entire lifespan of a vote:
Michigan now makes it easier to register to vote, allows voters to “pre-register” starting when they’re 16, and will be the first state to automatically register people when they’re released from incarceration.1
Michigan is now the first state that requires an extra warning message on political ads that are generated using AI, and it became the fifth state to ban deepfake political ads.
As I’ve written, election workers are the unsung heroes of democracy, and harassment targeting election officials is rampant (a shocking 73% of election workers say they feel like threats against them are increasing).2 In Michigan, our heroes have protection: it’s now illegal to intimidate election workers or prevent them from doing their jobs.
Finally, Michigan gave its election certification process a tune-up. Election certification wasn’t exactly a hot topic until January 6, 2021, but Michigan’s law now provide clear guidance on the timeline, paperwork, etc., needed to eliminate ambiguity around how the state certifies Presidential elections and sends its slate of Presidential electors to Washington, DC.
So much of what’s vital to a well-functioning democracy happens behind the scenes, in under-funded government offices carried out by over-worked election officials. It can be tough to get people to tune into the minutia of election administration, and that’s understandable. These issues just aren’t as attention-grabbing as voter suppression robocalls or a Trump trial.
That’s all the more reason Governor Whitmer, her team, and the Michigan legislature deserve high praise for this package for pro-democracy laws. These election intricacies will come up again and again, in state after state, between now and January 21, 2025.
We’re about to see the benefits of Michigan’s new laws play out in real time, and we’ll be wishing other states had passed more laws like them.
Some of the new laws mentioned in this post, including automatic registration of individuals who were formerly incarcerated, won’t go into effect until 2025.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/local-election-officials-survey-april-2023.