Michigan’s Republican-led House on Wednesday night approved a strict voter identification proposal over strenuous objections from Democrats who argued the plan could disenfranchise properly registered voters.
Michigan voters without photo identification could still cast a provisional ballot under the controversial legislation, but they would have to bring an ID to their local clerk’s office within 10 days of an election in order for their vote to count.
The legislation seeks to “protect the integrity of every single Michigan citizen’s vote, because every vote is diluted if fraudulent votes are cast,” said Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland.
Current state law allows registered voters to cast a ballot without photo identification if they sign an affidavit affirming their identity under threat of perjury, an option 18,388 residents used in the Nov. 8 election, according to the Michigan Secretary of State.
Nearly half of those voters were in Wayne County, including 5,834 in Detroit.
“We are not aware of fraud related to the affidavit” option, said Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, whose office is reviewing the voter ID legislation and has not yet taken a position.
“There’s certainly no proof” that any voters who cast ballots without photo identification last month were committing fraud, but they or their peers could nonetheless face a “modern-day poll tax” under the legislation, said Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor.
“This is going to cause confusion and chaos at the polls,” Irwin said. “There’s going to be arguments, voters aren’t going to understand, and long lines are going to get even longer. Maybe that’s the point.”