Republicans play politics with Show-me-your-papers law

You just knew some Republican locked in a primary battle was going to jump on the recently passed unconstitutional and racist show-me-your-papers law in Arizona, and the winner is carpetbagger Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Twp?.

She is running for the Michigan Senate in the 11th Senate District currently held by term-limited Republican Alan Sanborn, the most conservative member in the Senate, and it is considered a safe Republican district. She is facing off with some well known, actually infamous, opponents in former state Representative Leon Drolet. He has led the “tea parties” and a crooked recall of Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, and it’s a miracle he’s not in jail. Also running is former extremist state Rep. Jack Brandenburg.

Meltzer plans to introduce a bill “that would give local law enforcement the ability to arrest people determined to be illegal immigrants.” Just the press release had it’s desired effect, and I saw her face on every single local news broadcast last night.

According to a story in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, the proposal will only “allow police to ask about immigration status in the normal course of "lawful contact" with a person, such as a traffic stop or if they have committed a crime.” Once sentence in the attempt to localized the AP report caught my eye: “Arizona's voter-approved immigration law requires police enforcing another law to question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the United States illegally.

The law was not “voter-approved.”

It’s obvious why Meltzer is introducing the bill, and one reason is because she has to play to the extremists that control the Republican Party to win the primary and the seat. However, what was confusing was the take and support of Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Brighton. This is a perfect example of what happens when a nice guy goes to Lansing.

Rogers said, “he'd like to see Michigan group with other states to create one comprehensive policy, rather than having states individually approving local immigration authority.”

I could not agree more. What a great idea, and I guess that’s why the Founding Fathers thought of it some 230 years ago and formed the United States of America and the present system of federal government.

The show-me-your-papers law is also about voter suppression of minority voters, and Meltzer has been the point person in the House fighting any attempt to increase voter turnout and make it easier to register and to vote.

SOS directs her criticism for blocking voting measures to the wrong side of the Capitol

Republican Secretary of State Terri Land, according to subscription only Gongwer, “blasted the Legislature on Wednesday for focusing almost exclusively on budget issues and not acting on other pressing issues.”

"My frustration is the same as every other organizations; the unions and everyone else,” she told Gongwer. “Nobody is getting any legislation passed. It's very frustrating.”

She said she would like to see action on proposals she has made for real-time campaign finance reporting, but there is no legislation pending. She told the other subscription service covering Lansing, MIRS, that before she leaves office at the end of the year, she would like to see legislation creating a two-week early voting window and no-reason absentee voting and a bill creating electronic vehicle tabs passed.

The fact is the Democratically-controlled House has approved early voting and no reason absentee voting, but the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to act on them. The House also approved bills allowing 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote, but the Senate also refuses to move on it, too.

It seems Ms. Land’s needs to address her criticism to her side of the aisle and to the Senate side of the Capitol. Republicans have blocked every single attempt to make it easier and more convenient to vote and increase voter turnout.

In fact, two of the three Republican candidates for Secretary of State are members of that obstructionist Senate, and are against every attempt to make voting convenient.

House bills will allow residents to register to vote online

LANSING – House Democrats continue to eliminate barriers to voting and make it easier for residents to register to vote and to discharge their duty as U.S. citizens and vote.

On Wednesday the House Ethics and Elections Committee took testimony on two bills that will allow residents to register to vote online. As more people go online to pay bills, pay their taxes and get their news, this is a natural. The committee took testimony on House Bills 4539 and 4540, and they are expected to vote them out to the full House floor next week.

Thanks to House Democrats, Michigan is again becoming a leader in removing barriers to vote. If the bill becomes law, Michigan would follow Arizona and Washington as just the third state in the nation offering online voter registration. Michigan was one of the first states to adopt motor voter registration.

If approved, a person who was not registered to vote at the address where he or she was residing could submit a voter registration application electronically on the website. A person who submitted an application electronically would have to do all of the following:
Attest to the truth of the information provided on the voter registration application by affirmatively accepting the information as true.
Affirmatively assent to the use of his or her most recent digitized signature if captured or reproduced by the Secretary of State.
Sign the voter registration application with an electronic signature.

Amendments to enhance security are expected, but the bills have the support of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, Michigan Townships Association and Michigan Association of County Clerks.

The legislation, however, faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate, and forward looking bill designed to make it easier for people to vote have been met with silence in that chamber, even though they have the backing municipal clerks and the Republican Secretary of State.

Bills sent over from the House so far include no reason absentee voting, early voting and allowing 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote.

Land contradicts GOP Senate and supports voting measures

LANSING – Apparently, Secretary of State Terri Land is at odds with Senate Majority Mike Bishop and the Senate GOP caucus on election issues.

Land testified before the House Committee on Ethics and Elections on Wednesday and she supports measures the House Democrats have passed, but the Senate refuses to move.

The House approving no reason absentee voting with bipartisan support last month, but the Senate has refused to take up the bill the last two sessions. Committee member Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Township, has been the leading GOP mouthpiece for opposing the common sense measure that will increase voter turnout, and she tried to get Land to buy into the GOP’s flimsily excuse that it increases voter fraud. Land refuse to bite, and she said there has been no prosecution of voter fraud during her almost eight year tenure. She also said reforms she supports, like an electronic poll book, will make voter verification easier.

Land referred to Chris Thomas, the Director of Elections for many years, who said there has been no cases of voter fraud in regard to A/B that he is aware of.

“Where we generally see fraud is when people get their ballots, and campaigners show up their porch, and voters feel they are being strong-armed,” he said.

Land said, in contrast to her GOP colleagues, she supports early voting and allowing 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote; something Meltzer objected to. Land said it’s much better than registering them to vote when age 18 by outside groups. Land said it would not be an issue with local clerks, and they would not see them on their voter file until age 18.

“I think it’s the best way to do it,” Land said. “They are already there with their birth certificate when they get their driver’s license.”

Committee Chair Rep. Kathy Angerer, D-Dundee, asked Land for her help in getting some movement on the bills she supports.

“We are having a terrible time moving these items with your colleagues in the Senate,” she said. “Would you be wiling to help in the Senate?”

Land said she would.

“It took 20 years to get election consolidation,” she said. “I sure hope it does not take another 20 years.”

Committee moves bill on 16-year-old vote

LANSING – House Democrats stuck another blow for bringing more people into our democracy and increasing government participation by reporting two bills out of the House Committee on Ethics and Elections on Wednesday that will allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote.

The Committee, chaired by House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Kathy Anger, D-Dundee, reported House Bill 4261, introduced by Rep. Lesia Liss, D-Warren, and House Bill 4337, introduced by Rep. Robert Jones, D-Kalamazoo, the bills out to the full House Floor.

Chris Thomas, director of the state Bureau of Elections, testified in support of the bills, and he said when a 16-year-old goes to the Secretary of State’s office for their driver’s license, they would be allowed to pre-register to vote. Once the person reaches age 17 and a half, they would be sent their voter ID card. They would be allowed to vote in the election occurring in the year they turn 18, not on their birthday, which is existing state law.

The only no votes were cast by two Republicans on the committee: Rep. Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Township, and Rep. Kenneth Kurtz, R-Coldwater. However, neither gave any reason for opposing it.

Some Republicans have resisted any effort to increase voter turnout, such as their opposition to no reason absentee voting, approved by the House earlier this month.

GOP voter suppression efforts are full steam ahead

Republicans are pulling out all the stops in trying to pull out a victory for the ethically challenged McCain ticket here in Michigan, and that always includes their favorite tactic: voter suppression.

The Republicans know they are not the party of mainstream America or Main Street America, so the best way for them to win is to keep voter turnout low, unless they have a hot button issue like abortion or gay marriage on the ballot that brings out their base. Over the years, the GOP has become very good at voter suppression and intimidation.

The requirement to show an ID at the local polling place was a way to slow voter turnout among minority populations who tend to vote Democratic. It certainly wasn't in response to any voter fraud because there was none. But the latest GOP suppression tactic is one that is both dirty and clever.

The online newspaper/blog Michigan Messenger broke the story that the chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to challenge people and block them from voting in November as part of the state GOP’s effort to suppress the vote. That brought swift denials from the chair, the state party chair and even the official rightwing blog wrote some ridiculous parody.

The party spokesman put out a press release saying the chair was not only misquoted but the reporter, Eartha Jane Melzer, made up the quote. The press release demanded a retraction, but of course they never actually asked the MM for a retraction. The good news is publicity like that is the best antiseptic to dirty tricks like what the GOP was planning, and they are apparently backing off.

The publication and the story have received national recognition, and I even heard it mentioned on the Stephanie Miller Show last week.

The MM is standing by the story and their reporter, despite false attacks on both her and the publication's integrity. I even heard them described in a mainstream newspaper as the "liberal Michigan Messenger." Have you ever heard the Wall Street Journal described as the conservative WSJ? Me neither.

The MM is standing by the story and the reporter for good reason: she's right. I was a fellow for the MM when it started up last September and wrote for them for some nine months until my current job left me without enough time to turn out as much copy as was required.

Melzer was also there from the begining, and she has broken some big stories for the MM the mainstream media missed. Like this one. She broke the story on Sovereign Deed. The private security firm wanted to build a disaster response operation to look after rich people in northern Michigan, but Melzer broke the story that the founder lied about his military service. After that story, she received some of the same kinds of pressure then as she is now. She was right then, and she's right on the GOP suppression effort.

The Republican's answer to being caught with their hand in the cookie jar is to point out alleged voter fraud by ACORN, the nation’s largest grassroots community organization of low- and moderate-income people. This group is really hated by the Republicans. We know of the GOP's hatred of community organizers who dare to try and better their community and empower community members with their constitutionaly guaranteed right to vote, but they also registering voters, hurting the GOP voter suppression efforts.

ACORN is being accused of fraudulent voter registrations both nationally and in Michigan. First, is there any doubt knowing how political the U.S. Justice Department is that ACORN would not be a target? Second, ACORN's problem is hiring people to collect voter registrations and paying them for each one. We saw a similar situation with the fraudulent recall against Andy Dillon, but there was no intention to deceive by ACORN leadership. Plus, those fraudulent and forged signatures in the crooked effort by Leon Drolet were allowed to stand. Even without the voter ID law, a first-time voter has to show an ID to vote, so if ACORN was trying to commit voter fraud they would not get away with it at the polls.

The good news is the Department of Human Services (DHS) is stepping up ensure the people the GOP is trying to disenfranchise have the opportunity to vote. Local DHS offices in 57 counties across Michigan will host voter registration fairs to help register voters. Representatives of the League of Women Voters of Michigan, a city, township, or county clerk, or other community organizations will be at many locations to assist individuals attending the events.

Here in Livingston County, the local DHS office will hold their voter fair from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in their offices at the East Complex, 2300 E. Grand River in Genoa Township. DHS clients and local residents will receive information on all aspects of voting, including practice casting a ballot in addition to registering to vote. The deadline for registering to vote in the November 4 General Election is October 6.

Groups push for no reason absentee voting

LANSING – With voter turnout at an anemic rate often below 25 percent across Michigan, logic says any attempt to improve that number in a country that prides itself on Democratic elections would be welcome, but that does not seem to be the case with no reason absentee voting.

Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus held a press conference Tuesday in front of the state Capitol surrounded by members of the Michigan Municipal Clerks Association (MMCA), various advocacy groups, working people and mothers. The message was simple: an absentee ballot any time, any place for any voter.

“Workers of the state don’t always know if they will be able to vote because they may have an extra shift or get called in to work on Election Day,” said Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor. “I go door-to-door all the time and have people tell me they're sorry but they can’t vote because they have to work.
“I also don’t want to see anyone disenfranchised because they can’t stand in that long line,” she said.

Brater introduced Senate Bill 12 that will allow no reason A/B voting way back when the legislative session opened in January 2007, but it has been bottled up in the Senate Committee on Campaign and Election Oversight. Brater hopes Michigan will join 28 other states that allow no reason A/B voting, and she hopes the ground swell of support, similar to the grassroots support that got the smoking ban bill out of committee, will work with SB 12.

“We urge you to contact Sen. (Michelle) McManus (Chair of the committee) and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop to urge them to take up the bill and give it a hearing,” she said.

Macomb County Clark Carmella Sabaugh recently made news when she was ordered by the Michigan Court of Appeals to stop sending A/B applications to every county resident age 60 or older.

“There is no reason for anyone not to be able to vote absentee,” she said. “The state can take your taxes by mail, why can’t you vote by mail?”

Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, Minority Vice-chair of the Campaign and Election Oversight Committee, praised Sabaugh’s actions.

“You have done some very courageous things in your county with absentee voting,” Jacobs said.

A/B voting will increase voter turnout, and people are hard-pressed to find a reason why anyone would be against no reason A/B voting. It is not a Democrat or Republican issue, but for some unknown reason some Republican so-called leaders are opposing it. Jacobs said in a recent U.S. Census survey, more than 7.5 million people said they did not vote because of “logistical reasons,” and in Macomb County voter turnout increased 40 percent after Sabaugh mailed out A/B applications to all senior citizens. It’s much cheaper to mail out an A/B ballot for the price of a 42-cent stamp than to pay $4.20 for a gallon of gas to drive to the poling place to stand in line and vote.

“People ask why anyone would be against no reason absentee voting: that’s a good question,” Jacobs said. “People say it will cause problems for clerks, but the clerks are here to say it doesn’t.”

Current Michigan law says the are only six reasons for A/B voting: age 60 years old or older, unable to vote without assistance at the polls, expecting to be out of town on election day, in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, unable to attend the polls due to religious reasons or are appointed to work as an election inspector in a precinct outside of your precinct of residence.

“We have all been in the situation when a voter comes into our offices to fill out a A/B application, and they freeze when they come to the part that asks for a reason,” said Evan Hope, the Vice-President of the MMCA and the Clerk in Delhi Charter Township.