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Secretary of State speaks before US Senate Comittee about voting rights

Courtesy Michigan.gov

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson spoke before the U.S. Senate Rules and Administration committee Wednesday as it debates a series of voting rights bills.

She says the 2020 election was conducted without fraud, but that hasn’t stopped some Republicans from attempting to make voting more difficult.

“The election of 2020 is behind us. The war on democracy is escalating. And in addition to the ongoing efforts of democracy deniers to spread misinformation alongside continued attacks and threats against election officials, a new Battlefront has emerged in state legislatures all across the country.”

Today, Michigan’s G.O.P.-led Senate introduced more than three dozen pieces of legislation that would affect state elections. That includes measures that would require signature verification and photo identification for all ballots, including absentee.

They say the goal is to prevent fraud, but election fraud in the state was virtually non-existent in the last election and multiple audits debunked any notion of widespread impropriety.

Other bills introduced by Senate Republicans would restrict when voters can drop off absentee ballots and prohibit cities and counties for paying for the postage of mailed-in votes.