Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday vetoed several bills aimed at tightening election security in the state, telling lawmakers the Republican-backed legislation would disenfranchise voters and disproportionally impact minority voters.
Article by Isabel Van Brugen from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.
The bills—Senate Bills 303 and 304, and House Bill 5007—would have prohibited election officials from accepting donations, toughened in-person voter identification rules, required people to provide additional information on absentee ballot applications such as their driver’s license number or state ID number, instead of only a signature.
The measures would have also banned the Secretary of State’s Office and township or city clerks from providing absentee ballot applications unless specifically requested by a voter, and removed a $10 fee to obtain or renew a state ID card.
“These bills would disproportionately harm communities of color. … Non-white voters were about five times more likely to lack access to ID on election day than white voters,” the Democratic governor wrote in a letter to lawmakers on Friday. “Voter restrictions that produce such a racially disparate impact must never become law in this state.”
All three bills passed the Legislature earlier in October, mainly along party-line votes. Republicans backing the measures argue they would boost election confidence.
Senate Elections Committee Chair, Sen. Ruth Johnson, a Republican, said in a statement that by vetoing the measures, the governor is “rejecting nearly 80% of Michigan voters who support requiring every voter coming to the polls to present a government-issued ID to cast their ballot—including over 58% of voters in her own party,” citing a Detroit Regional Chamber poll conducted in May.
Critics of the measures have argued that it would make it harder to vote in the state.
“These bills are out of step with what we know Michigan voters want, a voting system that works for everyone,” said Sharon Dolente, senior adviser for Promote the Vote. “Michigan law already requires voters to verify their identity prior to voting. These bills would impose a radically restrictive identity verification scheme rejected by 42 states.”
A ballot committee, called Secure MI Vote, is currently circulating petitions that would allow the state Legislature to still enact similar changes in 2022 without Whitmer’s signature—guaranteed that the petitions receive roughly 340,000 valid signatures by the end of six months.
“The governor may have vetoed this bill now, but once we finish this process, she will not be able to stop these changes,” Jamie Roe, a spokesman for the GOP-backed ballot committee said in a statement.
The group’s petition language was approved by the Michigan Board of Canvassers on Sept. 27, and it has been gathering signatures since then. The committee’s petition would prohibit private entities from donating money to election officials and would ban the Secretary of State’s Office and clerks from providing absentee ballot applications unless specifically requested by a voter, among other changes—similar to changes proposed by lawmakers in the vetoed bills.
Image by Julia Pickett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker
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Gretchen Whitmer, die in shame, in Jesus name.