Michigan voters approved Proposal Three – Promote the Vote – in today’s election. With more than 1.7 million voters casting ballots in favor of the initiative backed by the ACLU of Michigan and other non-partisan civic, labor, business, environmental and civil rights organizations.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is reaching out to more than 100 clerks across the state today urging them to inform voters that state law allows voters to cast a ballot with or without photo identification.  In a letter sent to the clerks, the ACLU is asking that they post clear, accurate information about voter identification requirements at voting sites next Tuesday, November 6, to eliminate any confusion.

Promote the Vote (PTV), a measure to secure voting rights in Michigan, has been certified by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, which voted unanimously this morning to certify the measure to appear on the November 6^th  general election ballot.

The ACLU of Michigan and Promote the Vote (PTV), filed a complaint in U.S. District Court asking that the PTV ballot initiative, a measure to expand voting rights in Michigan, be placed on the November 6^th ballot. This follows the State Board of Canvassers and Bureau of Elections failure to properly validate the petition signatures PTV was required to gather to place the initiative on the ballot. By failing to certify these signatures, the state has violated the voting rights of Michigan citizens who support the PTV initiative.

The ACLU of Michigan is conducting an election of members to its State Board. This year we elect 12 at-large candidates and 2 Local Unit candidates to the 22-member Board of Directors. Read the candidate’s biographies. 

You, as an ACLU member, may vote Yes or No for each candidate by filling out our online ballot here.

The right to vote is at risk for many in Michigan – and your state representative is to blame. Right now, they are poised to quickly pass dangerous legislation intended to restrict and suppress access to the ballot box.

Recently, I visited Alabama with the Faith and Politics Institute for Congressman John Lewis’ Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage. We visited civil rights monuments in Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, before heading to Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday. As we reflected on the rights that were so bravely fought for on that Sunday decades ago, we recognized that the fight continues on across the country. In Michigan, we’re taking the fight to the ballot and aiming to ensure all can vote. We want to make voting more accessible, secure, and fair for all Michiganders.

If anyone thought democracy had actually been returned to the residents of Flint, the Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB) appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder just pulled out its hammer and shattered that illusion.

Despite public outcry, the five-person RTAB last week overrode a unanimous city council vote to place a yearlong moratorium on the imposition of liens on homes with delinquent water bills.