Michigan has plenty of people who commit a crime come election time. They aren’t trying to vote twice, or do anything to improperly tilt the results of an election. They simply want to vote at their convenience. But in Michigan, convenience is something meant for only a select group of voters: the elderly, the disabled, […]
Ruth Johnson
Posted inPhil's Column
Will Michigan voters ever get the campaign finance reform they deserve?
Last week was National Sunshine Week, designed to increase transparency in government: Opening up the workings of government and politics to the healthy light of day makes things cleaner and better. Sure. Over the years, I’ve watched plenty of National Sunshine Weeks come and go, without much actually changing. So I’m more than moderately skeptical […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Voting can be tricky business in Michigan
The citizenship check box that many voters saw on Michigan voting forms for the first time in the August primary resulted in confusion and controversy. Election workers weren’t sure whether voters were required to fill it out. In some cases, noncompliant voters were turned away. So were a couple of noncitizens preparing to cast ballots, […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Guest column: Voting reform boosts access, security
By Ruth Johnson/Michigan secretary of state Critics and pundits (“Right to vote is under attack,” Dec. 15) would have you think that any move to review and make common sense adjustments to our current elections system is a veiled attempt at destroying our democratic process. The fact is that ensuring integrity in our elections system […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Analysis: A slap in the face by the invisible hand
By Rich Robinson On one level, the vote by the Senate Economic Development Committee to defer to another day the proposed new public-private bridge betweenDetroit andWindsor looks like the triumph of ideology over commerce. Fearless libertarians who have had enough of taxation faced down every business association in Michigan. The titans of business and industry blinked. […]