LANSING, Michigan (AP) – The leaders of three dozen major Michigan-based companies, including General Motors and Ford, on Tuesday objected to Republican-sponsored election laws that would make it more difficult to vote in Michigan and other states.
The companies issued a joint statement saying they are united for principles such as equitable access to voting and avoiding movements that reduce voting, particularly among historically disenfranchised communities.
The GOP-led senate is expected to begin hearings on broad-based legislation soon that would require photo ID to vote in person, ban the statewide unsolicited mass mailing of absentee ballots and limit the hours people can drop their ballots in curbs.
Voters applying for an absentee ballot – an increasingly popular option under a 2018 constitutional change and during the coronavirus pandemic – should include a copy of their ID. Governments would be prohibited from issuing prepaid postage on ballots.
Business executives have also criticized a new electoral law in Georgia and bills in Texas
“The government should support fair access to the ballot to ensure that all eligible voters can exercise their rights,” the statement said. “The government should avoid actions that reduce electoral participation – particularly among historically disenfranchised communities, persons with disabilities, the elderly, racial minorities and low-income voters.”
The statement was signed by GM’s Mary Barra, Ford’s Jim Farley and Mike Manley of Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler. It was also signed by executives from all four Detroit professional sports teams – including Christopher Ilitch, owner of the Tigers and Red Wings – and the leaders of auto suppliers, a major utility, banks, and other companies.
They stopped weighing specific legislation in Michigan and other states, but said election laws should be developed in a two-pronged way. They added that the government must continuously improve and strengthen election administration “because public confidence in the security and integrity of our elections is fundamental.”
In a separate statement, GM urged US state legislators to “protect and strengthen the right of all eligible voters to have their votes cast in a fair, free and equitable manner.”
Republicans have said changes are needed to ensure election integrity following an increase in absenteeism in 2020. More than 5.5 million people voted in Michigan’s presidential election – the highest rate ever and the highest percentage of residents of voting age who voted in 60 years.
“The movement of this package through the legislative process has only just begun and I look forward to seeking input from my colleagues across the aisle and everyone involved in this process,” said Clarklake Senate Leader Mike Shirkey in a statement. statement. “We must use logic at all times, not political sentiment or ‘wokeness’, to build good public policies that serve all Michiganders and will protect our democracy. If having an ID is seen as a barrier to voting because there is a problem getting an ID, then let’s fix that. “
Some in the GOP have falsely claimed that Donald Trump’s presidential election was stolen, despite his loss of 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, to Joe Biden in the battlefield state.
Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer would veto several bills if they reached her desk. But the Republican State Party has said it is planning a maneuver that would allow the legislature to enact them anyway if enough voter signatures were collected for a voting initiative.
The Detroit branch of the NAACP staged a rally against the bills in the State Capitol on Tuesday.
“We will not stand for people taking away what God has given us the right to have. … However you look at this, social or biblical, voter oppression is bad, ”said Reverend Steve Bland Jr., senior pastor of Liberty Temple Baptist Church in Detroit.
Other measures in the 39 bill package would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote and create an “early vote” day 10 days before election day. Votes cast at polling stations on that day are then counted.
People can cast an absentee vote as early as 40 days before an election, including the weekend before. On election day, absent ballots are counted, which can lead to delayed results because they take longer to process.
Over the weekend, more than a hundred top managers and business leaders met online to discuss their response to voting laws being considered in several states.
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