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Opinion | Michigan state, congressional leaders: Act now to protect mail-in voting
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President Trump signed an executive order on March 31 to limit mail-in voting and make a federal list of who can and can’t vote. He said it was election integrity. Let’s call it what it is: a sitting president trying to decide who gets to participate in democracy.
This is straight out of the authoritarian playbook. You don’t ban votes outright. Instead, you make voting complicated. You create lists. You add requirements. You build in delays. You hand control to the federal government and take it away from the people closest to the voters.
The US Constitution gives the states the power to hold elections. States make the rules. The process is run by local officials. That’s on purpose. It’s not leadership when a president goes around Congress and state law and issues a one-sided order to change how tens of millions of people vote. That’s how someone acts who doesn’t trust democracy.
In the 2024 general election, nearly one third of all voters cast ballots by mail. That included people with jobs that don’t let them take three hours off on a Tuesday. Elderly residents who can’t drive to a polling place. Military families stationed away from home. Trump just told all of them that the federal government will decide whether they make the list.
Trump himself voted by mail, most recently just last week in a Florida election. He knows mail voting is legitimate. This order isn’t about fraud. Courts have already said so. A previous executive order he issued about a year ago that sought similar changes was struck down by multiple federal courts, which found the Constitution doesn’t give the president authority to act alone on elections.
He’s doing it again anyway.
That tells you everything. When a leader loses in court and keeps signing orders to achieve the same result through different language, that’s someone who believes the law applies to everyone else.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said it plainly: “The Constitution is clear. States oversee elections, not Trump.” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said her state would use every legal tool available to fight back. Michigan will be right there with them.
So here’s what needs to happen, and who needs to do it.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s vow that she will protect Michigan voters is great, however, she should file suit immediately. Her office has the authority and the track record. She’s fought Trump’s previous election orders and won. This one deserves the same response, and Michigan voters deserve to know she’s moving without delay.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s public statement that Michigan won’t comply with any provision of this order that conflicts with state law is commendable. She runs Michigan elections. Not Donald Trump.
US Senators Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin need to bring this to the Senate floor. Trump’s been trying to push the SAVE Act through Congress and failing. He’s now attempting by executive order what he couldn’t get done through legislation. Peters and Slotkin should force their Republican colleagues to go on the record about whether a president has the right to unilaterally control who votes in America.
Michigan’s congressional delegation should be heard this week. Not next week. This week. Silence from elected officials right now reads as acceptance.
Among voting rights supporters, Marc Elias and Democracy Docket have already signaled they’ll sue. Michigan United will be organizing on the ground to support every legal challenge filed.
At Michigan United, we’ve spent years building civic power in communities that have historically been pushed out of the process. We register voters. We protect voters. We fight every attempt to make participation harder for people who already face barriers.
You can’t protect democracy by deciding who gets to be a part of it.
The people of Michigan aren’t going to let this stand.
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