Michigan: Voting rights nonprofit confirms it sent mystery FOIAs in Michigan | The Detroit Times

A voting rights nonprofit affiliated with a Democratic super political action committee is behind the recent mystery public record requests that blanketed clerk’s offices around Michigan. Priorities USA Foundation contracted a third party to send hundreds of public records requests to clerks throughout the state asking for copies of ballots and accompanying materials from the November 2016 election, the group confirmed Tuesday. The nonpartisan foundation is a separate but affiliated entity with Priorities USA Action, a self-defined "progressive" super PAC that spent $6.4 million supporting Democrat Hillary Clinton and $126 million opposing Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Among the super PAC's biggest donors in 2015-16 were George Soros, the liberal chairman of the Open Society Foundations; New York hedge fund manager James Simons; and Newsweb Corp. CEO Fred Eychaner of Chicago, according to Federal Election Commission filings. 

Michigan: Democrats’ attempted hacker? A test from Michigan Democrats | Associated Press

A would-be hacking attempt into the national Democratic Party's massive voter file wasn't that at all. It turns out to be the work of a technology company hired by Michigan Democrats, all in the name of testing how secure the party can keep information on tens of millions of Americans. "This was an unauthorized test, not an attack," Bob Lord, the Democratic National Committee's chief security officer, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. That finding, discovered after national party officials already had contacted federal law enforcement fearing a malicious hacking attempt, marks an odd and potentially embarrassing twist to the party's data security efforts two years after Russians penetrated DNC computers and released internal communications the upended the 2016 presidential election. The chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, Brandon Dillon, did not respond to a request for comment.

Michigan: Officials seek stay of injunction that allows straight-ticket voting | MLive

Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson is asking a federal judge to reconsider his decision to allow straight-ticket voting on the November 2018 ballot, according to an emergency court motion filed Tuesday. The motion asks U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain to issue an immediate stay  pending appeal of Drain's Aug. 9 injunction on a 2016 Michigan law that removes the straight-party voting option. The motion asks for a decision by Friday, Aug. 17, citing the need to set the November ballot. The motion, which was filed by Attorney General Bill Schuette, argues that the state is likely to prevail on appeal and voters will not be harmed if the straight-ticket option is not available.

Michigan: Despite explanation for election night glitches, calls persist for Wayne County primary audit | Michigan Radio

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers heard what went wrong with the county’s election results website last Tuesday, as questions and concerns linger about problems with the Aug. 7 primary election. The Grand Rapids-based company ElectionSource runs the site that reports Wayne County’s election results. As vote totals started coming in last Tuesday, the site initially reported the results of some races wrong before shutting the site down altogether for a few hours. ElectionSource CEO Ryan DeLongchamp told the board that was the result of an “internal error” caused by larger-than-expected data files from the county.

Michigan: State to appeal judge’s decision on straight-ticket voting ban | The Detroit News

The state will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that permanently barred Michigan from enforcing a straight-ticket voting ban. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson filed a notice of appeal Monday morning, nearly two weeks after Detroit U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain said the state’s GOP-led legislature “intentionally discriminated against African Americans” by banning straight-ticket voting. The state will be filing an emergency motion for stay alongside the appeal, Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams said. "The state is confident that it will succeed on the merits of the appeal as there is no Fourteenth Amendment violation, no violation of the Voting Rights Act and plaintiffs lack standing to bring this claim," he said in an email. 

Michigan: Wayne County Board of Canvassers will dig into election night website issues | Michigan Radio

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers wants to know what went wrong with the county’s election website during last week’s primary. The board is expected to meet Monday with the CEO of ElectionSource, the Grand Rapids-based company that runs the county’s election results reporting website, to try and get answers. As returns started coming in Tuesday night, it was clear the website was having problems. Some initial results were reported incorrectly, causing inexplicable fluctuations and leading many to doubt whether the numbers could be trusted at all. And the website shut down altogether for several hours during the night, before coming back online Wednesday morning. County elections officials insist the vote count was always accurate. ElectionSource blamed the problems on software glitches that resulted from too-large data files, and too much web traffic overwhelming data uploads.

Michigan: Blind voters may struggle with new voting machines | Associated Press

New voting machines in Michigan may cause problems for residents with a visual disability. Tuesday's primary election will feature $40 million of new equipment that replaced aging voting machines, The Detroit Free Press reported. For more than a decade, blind voters in the state have used AutoMark Voter Assist Terminals, which have a touch screen and a keypad with Braille. A 2015 survey estimates that about 221,000 Michigan residents have a visual disability. Most Michigan counties will now use Dominion Voting Systems, which don't have keypads with Braille and feature verbal instructions that can be difficult for a blind person to follow. Some counties selected new equipment from Election Systems & Software or Hart InterCivic. About 100 blind people helped test out the three systems in 2016, said Fred Wurtzel, who is blind and is second vice president of the National Federation of the Blind in Michigan. He said most testers preferred the Election Systems equipment, while many said the Hart InterCivic were the most difficult to use.

Michigan: Judge says GOP’s straight ticket voting ban discriminated against African Americans | The Detroit Free Press

A federal judge approved a permanent injunction Wednesday against the state eliminating straight-ticket voting in Michigan even though the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a bill in 2015 that would do exactly that.

When Michigan Republicans passed the bill eliminating straight ticket voting, they “intentionally discriminated against African-Americans in violation of the Equal Protection Clause,” U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain wrote in his decision. “The Court finds that eliminating the Democratic Party’s success with straight-ticket voters — success especially driven by African-Americans residing in communities with high voting-age African-American populations — was a motivating consideration in the Michigan Legislature’s enactment of PA 268. The goal of ending the Democratic Party’s success with straight-ticket voters, therefore, was achieved at the expense of African-Americans’ access to the ballot.”

Michigan: Federal judge blocks Michigan ban on ‘straight-ticket’ voting | Reuters

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled Michigan cannot ban “straight-ticket” voting, allowing voters to choose all a party’s candidates with just one bubble on a ballot, saying the law prohibiting the practice was racially discriminatory. The ruling permanently blocks what U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain called a politically motivated move by the Republican-controlled state legislature in a state that backed President Donald Trump in 2016 after twice choosing Democratic former President Barack Obama. The ban did not affect the November 2016 election as a temporary order had blocked the state from enforcing it. Drain cited research finding African-American voters are more likely than voters of other races to cast a straight-ticket ballot and are more likely to vote Democratic than Republican.

Michigan: Court: Michigan voters will decide redistricting proposal | Associated Press

Michigan voters this fall will get to decide whether to change how their state's congressional and legislative districts are drawn, the state Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday. In a 4-3 decision, the justices rejected a lawsuit challenging an anti-gerrymandering ballot measure, meaning it will go to a statewide vote in November. The constitutional amendment, if approved, would entrust redistricting to an independent commission instead of the Legislature and governor. It is a bid to stop partisan gerrymandering, the process of a political party drawing electoral maps to maintain or expand its hold on power. Michigan Republicans controlled redistricting after the 2010 and 2000 censuses. They have nine of Michigan's 14 U.S. House districts and hold 27-10 and 63-46 majorities in the state Senate and state House, respectively.

Michigan: New Emails Show Michigan Republicans Plotting to Gerrymander Maps | The New York Times

Newly disclosed emails show Michigan Republicans angling to give their party a dominant position through gerrymandered maps and celebrating the plight of their Democratic rivals. Republicans in the state have denied that they sought partisan gain when they drew new legislative boundaries in 2011. But a federal lawsuit, which argues the maps are unconstitutional, has unearthed records showing Republicans intent on drawing boundaries that would help their party. The emails, disclosed in a filing on Monday, boast of concentrating “Dem garbage” into four of the five southeast Michigan districts that Democrats now control, and of packing African-Americans into a metropolitan Detroit House district. One email likened a fingerlike extension they created in one Democratic district map to an obscene gesture toward its congressman, Representative Sander M. Levin. “Perfect. It’s giving the finger to Sandy Levin,” the author of the message wrote. “I love it.”

Michigan: High court hears challenge to redistricting measure | Associated Press

The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments about whether voters in November should be able to pass a constitutional amendment that would change how the state's voting maps are drawn or whether such changes could only be adopted at a rarely held constitutional convention. The proposed ballot measure would empower an independent commission to draw congressional and legislative districts every decade instead of the Legislature, which is now controlled by the Republicans. It is a bid to stop partisan gerrymandering, which critics say hurts democracy and denies citizens fair representation.

Michigan: State Supreme Court hears arguments over redistricting initiative | The Detroit News

Redistricting reform supporters rallied Wednesday outside the Michigan Supreme Court as the justices heard arguments about whether voters this fall should decide the high-stakes plan to let an independent panel draw political boundaries. The redistricting commission ballot proposal — which practically exempts itself from judicial oversight — is the kind of "sweeping, radical change" that could only be achieved through a constitutional convention, opposition attorneys told the high court. Lawyers for Citizens Protecting Michigan's Constitution and Attorney General Bill Schuette's office argued the proposal constitutes a revision — rather than an amendment — to the state Constitution and should be kept off the November ballot. Volunteers gathered nearly 400,000 valid signatures in an attempt to put the plan before voters.

Michigan: Republican Attorney General set to fight redistricting proposal at Michigan Supreme Court | The Detroit News

Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office will argue against a proposal for an independent redistricting commission Wednesday and ask the Michigan Supreme Court to keep the measure off the November ballot. The state’s highest court on Monday granted Schuette’s request for Solicitor General Aaron Lindstrom to participate in the high-stakes arguments over the Voters Not Politicians proposal. Lindstrom will get to use five minutes of the 30-minute bloc that had been reserved for attorneys from Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution, the opposition group that first asked the Supreme Court to kill the initiative that would redefine the way political boundaries are drawn in the state.

Michigan: National group says Michigan needs early voting opportunity | WZZM

We're about to have a gubernatorial election in the state of Michigan. But do many people care enough to go out and vote? The truth is many people won't go vote. History tells us only about four to maybe five out of ten people have voted in the state's gubernatorial election since 1962. Now, a nationwide report on voter turnout is criticizing Michigan's leaders for not making enough changes to entice voters to come to the polls on a regular basis. The report from the Center for American Progress found that Michigan could boost voter turnout by more than 235,000 "if the state adopted new policies to reduce barriers and make voting more convenient". "92 million eligible Americans did not vote in 2016 and 143 million didn't vote in 2014," Center for American Progress Voting Rights Manager Danielle Root said. "That is a problem and that includes Democrats, Republicans, Independents and everybody in-between. We all need to come together to fix that."

Michigan: Group submits signatures for ballot measure to expand voting in Michigan | The Detroit Free Press

More than 430,000 signatures were submitted Monday for a 2018 ballot initiative to expand voting in Michigan by allowing absentee ballots to be cast for any reason and implementing measures such as same-day voter registration. Organizers of the Promote the Vote constitutional amendment include the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, the League of Women Voters and the NAACP's state and Detroit branches. "Democracy is most effective when the most possible people participate," ACLU of Michigan Executive Director Kary Moss said during a news conference outside the state elections bureau. "It is time that we had voting reforms in the state because people have died to win and exercise their right to vote. Voting should be easier, it should be accessible and it should be something that everybody can do."

Michigan: Legislation to decrease voting age introduced | Huron Daily Tribune

The teenage voice in the state of Michigan could become more powerful if legislation recently introduced passes. The legislation, introduced by Sen. David Knezek (D–Dearborn Heights) and Rep. Yousef Rabhi (D–Ann Arbor) aims to lower the voting age to 16, which, if passed, would make Michigan the first state to expand voting rights to any state-elected office for this age demographic. Senate Bill 1064, Senate Joint Resolution T, House Bill 6183 and House Joint Resolution KK were introduced to provide a larger civic engagement platform for the increasing number of young people who are actively and aggressively participating in the political process.

Michigan: Democrats propose changing legal voting age to 16 | The Detroit Free Press

The unprecedented outpouring of activism from students after the shooting at Marjorie Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland, Fla., in February is the genesis for a bill introduced in the Legislature last week that would change the voting age in Michigan to 16. "We allow 16-year-olds to go off and get jobs and pay taxes, but we fail to allow them to exercise their voice come election time," said Sen. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights. "Young people are setting aside their differences and identifying issues they think need to change. And they can do everything to get that change except vote." The shooting at Parkland, which left 17 students and teachers dead, prompted multiple school walkouts and large demonstrations across the nation by students calling for more gun control.

Michigan: Lawmakers introduce bill to lower voting age to 16 | Michigan Radio

Michigan’s voting age could be lowered to 16 if lawmakers pass a bill that was introduced this week. This bill, sponsored by Senator David Knezek and Representative Yousef Rabhi, follows an outpouring of teen advocacy after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Florida in February. The legislators hope to give teenagers a voice in the political process-- after all, they say, the political process impacts 16 year olds. "We allow 16-year-olds to go off and get jobs and pay taxes, but we fail to allow them to exercise their voice come election time," Knezek told the Detroit Free Press. "Young people are setting aside their differences and identifying issues they think need to change. And they can do everything to get that change except vote."

Michigan: State Supreme Court to decide on redistricting ballot question | Michigan Radio

The Michigan Supreme Court is about to have a political hot mess dumped on its lap. The court will decide whether voters will vote on an overhaul of how Michigan draws legislative and congressional districts. The group Voters Not Politicians has submitted some 425,000 petition signatures to get the question about amending the state constitution before voters in November. Currently, in Michigan, redistricting is done by the state Legislature. It’s been controlled by Republicans for the last twenty years. The Voters Not Politicians campaign wants the job to go to an independent commission.

Michigan: New election equipment and systems more secure in 2018 | Daily Tribune

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said new election equipment and millions of dollars worth of federal election security grants will help to further protect the state’s elections systems this fall. With the statewide primary election being held in August, residents should be aware that for the first time in 12 years, every voter will be using new election equipment designed with added security measures including optical-scan ballot tabulators, accessible features for voters with disabilities as well as upgraded election-management and reporting software. In Oakland County, voters will be using election equipment supplied by Hart Intercivic, a Texas-based company that signed a 10-year contract with the county and 10 other counties around the state in 2017.

Michigan: State upgrades election security for 2018 | UPMatters

As local clerks finalize ballots for the statewide primary, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson today detailed how new voting equipment, $11 million in new federal security grants and the extensive preparations her office has made will better protect Michigan’s elections system for the 2018 election cycle. “Most importantly, every voter across Michigan still will use a good, old-fashioned paper ballot to mark their choices,” Johnson said three weeks before the August primary ballots will be sent out. “Then they’ll feed the ballot into a new next-generation voting machine designed with security in mind. But buying all new election equipment isn’t all we’ve done to safeguard our election system.”

Michigan: Redistricting group has signatures, still fighting to make ballot | The Detroit News

A group trying change the way Michigan draws political boundaries rallied Thursday at the Capitol and urged state officials to put the proposal on the November ballot despite a legal challenge. The Michigan Bureau of Elections said Tuesday that Voters Not Politicians turned in an estimated 394,092 signatures, more than the 315,654 required, for a ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting commission that would redo congressional and legislative maps every ten years instead of lawmakers. The Board of State Canvassers was set to consider certification Thursday but on Wednesday cancelled the meeting, citing ongoing litigation. Organizers and volunteers came to the Capitol anyway.

Michigan: Judge orders Michigan GOP to share internal docs in redistricting suit | The Detroit News

Michigan lawmakers must disclose communications with outside groups and some internal documents subpoenaed by attorneys in a case alleging Republicans “gerrymandered” political boundaries created in 2012, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. The order from Detroit U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood could offer a rare glimpse behind the curtain of the Michigan Legislature, which is not subject to public records requests under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Attorney Mark Brewer, former head of the Michigan Democratic Party, subpoenaed nearly 100 lawmakers, staff and legislative bodies in the case, which alleges the GOP created congressional and legislative maps that intentionally diminished the power of Democratic voters. 

Michigan: Judges say gerrymandering lawsuit can proceed with challenges to individual districts | Michigan Radio

A panel of three judges ruled on Wednesday a gerrymandering lawsuit raised by members of Michigan’s League of Women Voters and several other Democrats will proceed. The suit was filed in December against the Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, who is the chief election officer of the state. It challenges the congressional and state legislative maps, which the plaintiffs say unfairly benefit Republicans. The Secretary of State's office moved to have the case dismissed, saying there were no grounds for a statewide case. The judges agreed the challengers don't have standing for a statewide case. But they say the case can move forward if someone from each of the 162 districts in the state challenges their individual district’s boundaries.

Michigan: Group hoping to end gerrymandering in Michigan faces challenges while waiting for approval | WXYZ

Voters Not Politicians, the group hoping to end gerrymandering in Michigan, is facing more challenges while they also wait on approval from the Michigan Board of State Canvassers. Last week, the group called for the state board to certify their proposal to be on the ballot. The group also said last week they hoped the petition would appear on Tuesday's agenda. When the agenda for Tuesday's board meeting came down, the only consideration on the agenda was for the petition filed by Protecting Michigan Taxpayers. Led by a group of volunteers collecting signatures, Voters Not Politicians collected over 425,000 signatures and submitted them to the Michigan Bureau of Elections in December. They needed about 316,000, equal to about 10 percent of the state’s population.

Michigan: Group challenges anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative | Associated Press

A group with ties to the Michigan Chamber of Commerce is challenging a 2018 ballot initiative that aims to end political gerrymandering by empowering an independent commission to draw the state’s congressional and legislative districts. Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution filed a challenge Thursday with the state elections board, announcing that it had also sued in the state appeals court a day before. It contends ballot committee Voters Not Politicians is seeking to amend so many parts of the state constitution that a constitutional convention is required, and that the proposal does not list all of the sections of the constitution that would be abrogated.

Michigan: Legislature: No more election recounts like 2016’s | Associated Press

Political candidates who lose big wouldn't be able to seek a recount under legislation nearing the Michigan governor's desk. The Republican-led Senate voted 27-8 Wednesday for legislation upping the standards for election recounts to require that aggrieved candidates prove they have a reasonable chance of victory. The House also voted 93-16 to pass legislation to double losing candidates' fees to recount votes if they lost by more than 5 percentage points. Both bills will soon go to Gov. Rick Snyder. Currently, candidates must allege that they believe they are aggrieved due to fraud or mistake to petition for a recount and are required to pay the state $125 per precinct.

Michigan: Federal judge dismisses complaint to hold earlier elections to replace Conyers | Detroit Free Press

The special election dates to replace former U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, who resigned last year amid complaints of sexual harassment, will remain in August and November after a federal judge dismissed a complaint by voters who wanted the election to be held sooner. U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith dismissed the complaint against Gov. Rick Snyder, who set the special election dates to coincide with the August primary and the November general election. The schedule left some voters in Conyers' 13th congressional district angry that the seat would be vacant for a year. The plaintiffs — Debra Rhodes, Gloria Mounger, Thomas Williams, Laura Dennis, and Vivian Wordlaw — argued that the the vacancy left them disenfranchised and violated the voting rights act.

Michigan: Manual election audits to debut in Michigan 2018 race | Associated Press

New measures to bolster security for Michigan's 2018 midterm elections were announced this month, but experts said they don't address all past gripes with state procedures. During this year's May election and November general election, Michigan will hand-count ballots for all precincts selected in the post-election audit, secretary of state spokesman Fred Woodhams said. The state currently uses paper ballots that are scanned through optical voting machines. Past elections' audits required reviewing voting machine equipment as well as procedural compliance of poll workers, he said, but did not entail recounting paper ballots. … But the reforms don't fully reassure Alex Halderman, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan. He noted that under Michigan procedure, post-election audits occur after the results are already certified, rendering the practice moot when it comes to disputing a race outcome.