Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed several voting rights bills today. Some of the bills are part of enacting the voting rights amendment adopted last year by voters.
The new voting laws include allowing nine days of early voting in statewide elections, ballot drop boxes and other ways to make absentee voting easier, and expanding the types of IDs that can be used to vote in person.
In a statement, Whitmer called for even more measures to "vote freely, fairly, and securely."
The bills she signed will also allow people to sign up to automatically get absentee ballots with pre-paid postage delivered to them and an online tracking system that will let voters know when their ballots arrive at clerks' offices. That includes email or text updates.
The new laws will also make it easier for clerks to count votes with more time for pre-processing absentee ballots.
