LANSING, Michigan (AP) – Leaders of three dozen large Michigan-based companies, including General Motors and Ford, on Tuesday opposed Republican-sponsored election laws that would make voting difficult in Michigan and other states.
The companies issued a joint statement saying they were united by principles such as equitable access to voting and preventing movements that reduce voting, especially among historically deprived communities of law.
The Republican-led state Senate is expected to begin hearings on comprehensive legislation soon this would require a photo ID to vote in person, ban unsolicited mass submission to the entire state of absentee ballot requests, and restrict the time people could leave their ballot on the sidewalk boxes.
Voters requesting an absentee ballot (an increasingly popular option under a 2018 constitutional amendment and during the coronavirus pandemic) should attach a copy of their ID. Governments would be prohibited from providing prepaid postage on ballot envelopes.
Corporate leaders have also criticized a new election law in Georgia and laws in Texas.
“The government must support equitable access to voting to ensure that all eligible voters can exercise their rights,” the statement said. “The government must avoid actions that reduce turnout, especially among historically unauthorized communities, people with disabilities, older adults, racial minorities and low-income voters.”
The statement was signed by Mary Barra of GM, Jim Farley of Ford and Mike Manley of Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler. It was also signed by executives from Detroit’s four professional sports teams, including Christopher Ilitch, owner of the Tigers and Red Wings, and leaders of car suppliers, a major company, banks and other companies.
They failed to consider specific legislation in Michigan and other states, but said election laws should be developed bipartisanly. They added that the government should continuously improve and strengthen the electoral administration “because public faith in the security and integrity of our elections is paramount.”
In a separate statement, GM urged state lawmakers across the United States to protect and improve “the right of all eligible voters to include their voice in a fair, free and equitable manner.”
Republicans have said changes are needed to ensure the integrity of the election after the increase in absentee voting in 2020. More than 5.5 million people voted in the Michigan presidential election, the largest percentage and the highest of residents to vote in 60 years.
“The passage of this package through the legislative process has just begun and I look forward to seeking input from my colleagues across the aisle and from all those who have been involved in this process,” he said in a said Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey of Clarklake. “At all times we must use logic, not political sentiment or ‘awakening’, to build good public policies that serve all Michiganders and safeguard our democracy. If having an identification is seen as an obstacle to voting because there is a problem obtaining an ID, we will solve this problem “.
Some in the Republican Party have falsely claimed that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump despite his loss of 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, against Joe Biden on the battlefield.
Several bills would be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer if they came to his desk. But the state Republican party has said it plans a maneuver this would allow the legislature to pass them into law anyway if enough electoral signatures were gathered for a voting initiative.
The Detroit branch of the NAACP organized an anti-law rally on Tuesday at the State Capitol.
“We will not advocate for people to endure what God has given us the right to have. … Either way this is seen, socially or biblically, voter suppression is evil, ”said the Rev. Steve Bland Jr., senior pastor of the Temple of Freedom Baptist Church in Detroit.
Other measures in the package of 39 bills would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote and create an “early voting” day 10 days before election day. The votes cast at the polling stations that day will be counted then.
People can now vote in absentia in person from 40 days before the election, including the previous weekend. Absence ballots are counted on election day, which can lead to delayed results, as their processing takes longer.
Over the weekend, more than a hundred executives and corporate leaders gathered online to discuss its response to voting legislation being considered in several states.
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