Change Your World Week Winter 2022 (Archived)

American democracy is in trouble. And only "we the people" have the power to fix it. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll found that 64 percent of Americans believe that U.S. democracy is “in crisis and at risk of failing” (Rose and Baker 2022). Without trust in the democratic process – of which elections are the centerpiece – we lose our peaceful means of resolving conflict and people resort to non-peaceful means. These pages are designed to investigate and raise awareness about the rules of elections in the United States – and in Michigan specifically – to identify ways in which they might be broken. Students chose one part of the registration/voting/election election process and evaluated it according to principles of fairness, integrity and equity. Then they drew conclusions about whether it needed to be fixed. If, in their investigation, they discovered that there was nothing broken, then they are raising awareness about the strength and durability of our elections, in hopes of solidifying public trust. If they found that the system needs repair, then they are advocating for a change in the rules among those who have the power to enact such changes: state legislators. By visiting these pages and signing petitions that you support, YOU can take action to restore trust in American democracy.

Absentee voting (AV) in Michigan works this way: Any citizen of the state must be 18 years of age (no exceptions) to submit a mail-in vote. Any citizen is eligible to vote by mail. Unlike some states, Michigan does not require those wishing to vote absentee to present an "acceptable" excuse. 

According to Michigan.gov, eligible voters must meet the identification requirements under federal law when they register. 

REQUESTING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT
After they are already registered, citizens wish to vote absentee may request an absentee ballot application from their local clerk's office or complete the application online at www.michigan.gov/vote. Find your local clerk at this link: Click here for your local clerk. Your local clerk must receive your application no later than 5 PM Friday before the election.

Once your application is submitted, the local clerk will compare your signature on file (from your voter registration) with the signature you put on the AV application. If the two signatures match, then an absentee ballot will be issued to your home address. 

COMPLETING YOUR ABSENTEE BALLOT
After received by you (the voter), your absentee ballot must be completed and returned by 8 PM on Election Day to your local clerk's office. 

Signing the envelop containing your absentee ballot is very important! This is because the clerk will match the signature on file (from your voter registration form) with the one on the envelop to verify your identity. If you do not sign the envelop containing your ballot, then you risk your ballot not being counted. 

OTHER IMPORTANT POINTS

• If you are physically unable to sign the envelop or complete the ballot, the person who assisted with preparing the ballot must also sign the envelop. 
• Only the voter, a family member or person residing in the household, a mail carrier or election official may deliver the voter's ballot. NEVER give your completed ballot to anyone else. 

HOW THE MICHIGAN PROCESS COMPARES TO OTHER STATES
Michigan is generally less restrictive than others states on the absentee voting process. In other states such as Missouri, voters can only vote absentee if you are incapacitated or confined due to illness or physical disability. In Michigan, however, you can vote absentee for ANY reason. Another interesting aspect of Michigan's voting laws is that you cannot vote while incarcerated, while other states such as Missouri do allow incarcerated individuals to vote. There are other states, however that are slightly less restrictive than Michigan in that they send the actual ballot out to every registered voter. While some states did this temporarily during the pandemic, eights states have permanent laws that mandate sending the ballot to every registered voter in every election.

Mail-in voting is a great process for voters in america. Mail in voting allows for people that are not able to make it to the voter stands to process their votes. Whether you live outside of your designated area to vote or unable to make it to the polls because of work. Mail in voting is the process for you. Many soldiers that are on the frontlines for our country deserve to place their vote. Mail in voting is the process for them. Mail in voting allows for many people who are unable to make it on election day still have their right to vote.

When it comes to voting by mail, there are many benefits, one being it allows people to vote safely from home during the pandemic without worry of getting sick. It also allows people that are busy and can't make it to the voting polls to cast their vote on their own time. Voting by mail is a huge advancement and seems like a great idea right? However voting by mail does have its downsides. Without being face to face, it is hard to correctly identify the voter and ensure the person casting the vote is who they say they are, therefore it can increase chances of fraud in an election. Another issue is rejection of votes, your votes may not get counted if you missed the signature portion of the ballot, or even a signature not matching state records. Another is an issue with the return envelope, if there is any damage the vote cannot be submitted due to possible tampering. 

WHO VOTED ABSENTEE

In the 2020 election, 69% of voters nationwide cast their ballot nontraditionally by mail and/or before Election Day. Much of the surge in nontraditional voting was due to an increase in mail-in voting. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a variety of changes in voting methods across the country in 2020, and the ways people could cast ballots varied widely from state to state. In 2020, 57% of voters cast ballots by mail in Michigan.

When looking at racial/ethnic groups who were more likely to vote absentee in 2020, we find that Hispanic voters utilized this method in the highest rates (51%); white voters (45%) and black voters (38). 

Older adult voters were also most likely of all age groups to vote absentee (55%), followed by the youngest voters (18-34-year-olds), 44% of whom voted absentee. 

Regarding party affiliation, Democrats were much more likely to vote absentee than Republicans. Fifty-eight percent of Biden voters opted to vote by absentee, compared with 32 percent of Trump voters who did so. 

DISPARITIES IN ABSENTEE VOTING BY PARTY CREATED MISTRUST

In the 2020 election, because more Trump voters options to show up in person, election night results in some places showed that Trump was winning. However, because absentee ballots take longer to count and election clerks are not allowed to start before Election Day in Michigan, the tally on Election night did not reflect the actual vote count. 

Later, when absentee votes for Biden were added to the count, the results flipped, creating the perception of fraud.

Do the rules for mail-in/absentee voting in Michigan need to be changed to create fairness, integrity and access in elections? If so, how?

Voting by mail is and will be a tremendous advancement for future elections, but only if slight changes are made. As of right now, to vote by mail you are only required to submit one form of identification such as a state issued ID or piece of mail with your name and address. When casting your ballot you include one signature. To improve mail in voting and to ensure it works the way it is supposed to. There needs to be at least more than one form of identification, and stronger packaging needs to be made a priority to ensure there will be no damage done to your vote. County clerks need to be given a larger time frame to count votes as well, it will allow for the process to be less stressful and done correctly.

https://www.change.org/p/securing-mail-in-voting?recruiter=922053946&recruited_by_id=e0b35380-fb34-11e8-afdd-87fb87a9ba0c&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard