Breaking News! A Bipartisan Deal in Lansing for Pre-Processing Absentee Ballots!!

Michigan is the 39th state to allow pre-processing absentee ballots. According to a report on Wednesday in Bridge Magazine, Governor Whitmer and the Republican-majority Legislature have reached a deal that would, among other things, allow clerks to begin pre-processing absentee ballots for counting two days before Election Day. The ability to prepare – not count – the ballots will speed up the vote count “for perpetuity.” House Republicans indicate other tweaks include:

1. Giving clerks access to the state’s Qualified Voter File, allowing county clerks to coordinate with the Secretary of State to check for and remove deceased voters,
2. Requiring additional security measures for ballot drop boxes, such as putting them in public locations, implementing a system for monitoring the drop boxes to ensure appropriate chain of custody and limiting access to the drop boxes through locks and small openings
3. Allowing active members of the military serving overseas to vote electronically starting after the 2022 election and
4. Adding additional polling locations starting in the 2024 presidential primary election

Register to Vote here

mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Home/RegisterToVote

Search for your voter information

https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Voter/Index

Information you might find here:

• Registration Status
• Polling place location and hours
• View a sample ballot
• Track an absentee ballot, and more

Search for your voter information

• Enter the required information. Required fields are marked with an asterisk *.
• Search by address or by driver's license   

It tells you

• Your City/Township and County
• If you are registered
• Your election calendar: including election date, election description, ballot preview*
• Your precinct, polling location, election day hours, dropbox locations
• Your clerk and contact information
• Absentee ballot status
• All voter district information

Ballot preview* - View

• Allows you to view your upcoming ballot
• The nonpartisan portion does NOT show party affiliation
• If you live in Washtenaw County, the 2022 Democratic Voter Guide provides suggestions for partisan and non-partisan races.

Sending letters for an hour can be an important contribution to electing your candidates 

Want to know which candidates for nonpartisan offices share your values?

Your friends and neighbors want to know who to vote for as well. Learn how you can find out and help others do so too, by emailing chuck@LBA80.com. It’s easy and important.

Friday, September 30. RE:CLAIM –  Soundwaves and Moods

The RE:CLAIM project is a collective of over 100 artists, advocates, and movement builders seeking to honor the complexity and diversity of the community impact of the criminal legal system as it affects youth, adults, and families. The layers of the immersive installation offer audio and visual arts as a catalyst for visioning practices, and resources supporting the wellness and safety of our neighbors. During the final evening-installation of this series, we welcome a number of musicians focused on making the closing of our programming series complete and festive. We are very honored to welcome the stylings of John E. Lawrence, Dani Darling, and DJ Khlonez.  Washtenaw County Courthouse at 101 E. Huron St. Registration Required. The 5:30 pm arrival time accounts for security screening upon entrance. Cell phones are permitted - please tag @the-reclaim_project on IG // @reclaimwashtenaw on FB.

Saturday, October 1. “WCDP Presents Generation Z”

This series begins with a panel of young activists discussing voting rights, reproductive rights, justice reform, school board elections, cannabis, and environmental issues. Connect here.

Now thru October 5. Help Get out the Voter Guide

The printed version of the Washtenaw Dems Voter Guide is a huge get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort. It has a sample ballot with candidates endorsed by the WCDP – including judges and school board members – plus candidate info, early voting info, and more. Also, the Guide can be brought into the voting booth.

Don't forget to sign up to circulate these all-important Voter Guides, as well as the Mobilize link within your networks. The Dems are asking for 400 volunteers for 2-hour shifts between now and about October 5. Thanks for helping us get this indispensable tool into the hands of voters! Sign up here to volunteer!

Join Virtual Phone Bank with "One Campaign for Michigan"

Each phonebank shift begins with a quick training over Zoom with an organizer who will walk you through the phonebanking process and answer any questions you may have. Daily shifts now through November election. Sign up for a shift here today!

Support our friends at Nextgen with their Michigan Ground Game to GOTV

There are new event every week registering voters. Learn more and Sign up to get involved here.

• Wednesdays. Tabling Event at EMU Lobby. Eastern Michigan University Student Center, 900 Oakwood St. Ypsilanti. Sign up here. 2–4 pm ET
• Wednesdays. Register Students to VOTE at WSU Farmer's Market. Wayne State University. Woodward Avenue & West Warren Avenue Park. Detroit, 48201. Sign up here. 10 am
• Wednesdays. Weekly Tabling Event at MSU. Michigan State University International Center. 427 N. Shaw Ln, East Lansing, 48824. Sign up here. 11 am – 2 pm 
• Tuesday, October 4. Register Returning Citizens at Returned Citizens Resource Fair. Washtenaw Community College Morris Lawrence Building. 4800 E. Huron River Dr. Hosted by A Brighter Way. Sign up here. 5–7 pm

Participate in the Elections

Volunteers are needed for the November elections. Review the jobs here and sign up!! Examples of positions include Early voting observers, Election Day Poll Challenger, Cure Team and Poll Worker



Paid jobs for the Michigan Democratic Party can be found here. Examples of positions include Field Organizers, Campus Organizers and Digital Field Organizers

Vote YES on Proposition 3: We won't go back (Trigger Warning)

Click on the image below to watch this short viral Tik Tok video with another reason why the Right to Decide is on the ballot on November 8. Michigan will not go backwards with reproductive freedom or healthcare.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests causing headaches for Michigan elections offices

In a report by Axios, there is a coordinated effort to undermine voters by Trump supporters who are overwhelming local elections offices with requests for records. According to a report in the Washington Post, Michigan's Bureau of Elections has spent 600 hours processing records requests this year — about triple the time it has spent on them in the past. According to the Michigan Department of State spokesman, “the increase in records requests of our office, as well as clerks of counties, cities and townships across Michigan, is part of the nationally coordinated, well-funded and multiyear effort to undermine the will of the voters in a past or future election…The nonsensical requests and threats of legal action seek to overwhelm election officials and their often small staff, who already worked long hours to ensure that every eligible citizen can vote and have their vote counted." Apparently, some officials don't even recognize the technical-sounding documents they are being asked to produce.

Democrats in Lansing introduced legislation for greater protections for election workers, which has been with the elections and ethics committee since last August.

House approves Electoral Count Act similar to Senate’s Electoral Count Reform Act 

Last week, the House passed a set of electoral reforms aimed at clearing up ambiguous and archaic (1887) language in the presidential certification process. The Presidential Election Reform Act was introduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. It passed in the House 229-203, with nine Republicans – all of whom are retiring - voting with all Democrats in favor.

According to NPR, “the legislation would make it more difficult for members of Congress to muck up the certification process with objections that aren't based on legitimate concerns, and would clarify that the vice president's role in counting electoral votes is strictly ministerial.”

The Senate version, the Electoral Count Reform Act, is slightly different, e.g., requiring only one-fifth of the lawmakers in both chambers to object. But it’s also a bipartisan bill, with 10 Republicans on board; it looks like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is leaning toward backing the reform, too

Remarkably the Republican-leaning editorial board of the NY Post is urging prompt passage of the legislation in the House and Senate. The Board states “the House bill shouldn’t be controversial: It simply 1) clarifies the vice president’s role in presiding over the count as purely ceremonial, 2) establishes guardrails against state officials who try to disregard election results and 3) requires one-third of the members of the House and Senate to object to a state’s electors, rather than the current one lawmaker in each chamber, to force a full vote on the question. Enough: Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have a duty to the nation to ensure final passage of the bipartisan reform of the Electoral Count Act. The peaceful transition of presidential power should never be in doubt again.”

Jocelyn Benson: Venerable Gatekeeper of Michigan’s Democracy     

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s 43rd Secretary of State, is running for reelection this November. During the past four years, she’s been at the forefront of the election process, doing everything possible to expand the electorate by making it as easy as possible to vote. She oversaw and secured the 2020 presidential election in Michigan, which drew record-breaking turnout. Additionally, she expanded the right to vote absentee and supervised more than 250 post-election audits.        

Benson has received multiple accolades for her work defending the election process. In 2015, she was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of fame, the youngest woman to receive that honor. Seven years later in 2022, for her work protecting democracy, she received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. 

Kristina Karamo, Benson’s opponent, by contrast, is an unapologetic election denier. She claimed without evidence that our voting machines were rigged in 2020. She also claimed that Trump won in Michigan and criticized fellow Republicans who disputed that. If elected, Karamo will undermine the progress Benson has made securing our democracy. She’s been open about wanting to limit absentee voting and make it harder to vote, not easier. Her actions have and will undermine Michiganders’ faith in the voting process. The non-partisan Voters Action Committee asserts in a recent brief in bold, “Kristina Karamo will destroy our elections from the top if she’s elected.”

Biden - Inflation Reduction Act and Lower Medicare Costs for Part B and Prescriptions 

Yesterday, “President Joe Biden held an event in the Rose Garden at the White House to celebrate the lower drug costs possible thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed without any Republican votes in either the House or the Senate. Phasing in over the next few years, the measure will cap the out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2000 a year and make vaccinations free for seniors on Medicare. If the price of drugs rises faster than inflation, drug companies will have to rebate the difference to Medicare. And Biden noted that today, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the premium for Medicare Part B, which pays for doctor visits, will decrease this year.” Read more from Heather

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