The motion prevailed.
Senator Daley’s statement is as follows:
In May, Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced that she would mail absentee ballot applications to each of Michigan’s 7.7 million registered voters. This has created a lot of concern about how this could cause an increase in voter fraud. Last week a constituent of mine told me that he was mailed an absentee ballot application to his home that was addressed to someone who hasn’t lived there in over 20 years. This person has lived and has been registered to vote in Grand Ledge for those 20 years. That’s why I introduced Senate Bill Nos. 977 and 978. They would make it a felony for someone to knowingly submit another person’s name or personal identity information on a ballot application or attempt to obtain multiple ballots. Making voter fraud a felony will help discourage those who wish to tamper with our elections in the first place.
The people of Michigan need to have the confidence that their elections are being conducted honestly and that they can trust the results, win or lose. There is a lot of concern about election integrity within our system right now. These bills will help discourage voter fraud, improve trust in our elections, and protect our fundamental right to vote. I encourage my colleagues to support these bills.
Senator Irwin’s statement is as follows:
I just want to point out just for the record and for the Journal that voter fraud is already illegal, forgery is already illegal, and with the passage of this bill and its signing, it will be double-secret illegal.
The President, Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, assumed the Chair.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 978, entitled
A bill to amend 1927 PA 175, entitled “The code of criminal procedure,” by amending section 11d (MCL 777.11d), as amended by 2018 PA 661.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: