Whitmer, Michigan Legislature strike deal on election integrity legislation

House Elections and Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Twp, said the GOP-dominated Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer struck a deal to improve Michigan election law.

Bollin said the plan via House Bills 4491, 6071, and Senate Bills 311 and 8 is a win for legislators.

“Election integrity should not be politicized,” Bollin said in a statement. “We can all agree that the people of Michigan must be able to vote freely and securely. And we all want our local clerks to have the tools they need to run smooth elections with results our citizens can trust.”

The plan aims to:

• Require the Secretary of State and county election clerks to clean up official voter rolls monthly, removing dead voters from the lists and decreasing the chances of fraud.
• Create a chain of custody for dropbox ballots, including better tracking of ballots retrieved from drop boxes.
• Allow electronic return of ballots for active-duty military members stationed overseas.
• Allow preprocessing of absentee ballots for two days before Election Day.
• Expand options for communities’ polling locations. This would allow privately owned buildings to host elections, such as banquet centers, as long as the building isn’t owned by a candidate for office or someone who runs a political action committee.

Whitmer is expected to sign the deal.