Cross-posted from michiganliberal.com
Remember a few weeks ago when my ex-boss and East Lansing political list kingpin Mark Grebner (D)
called attention
to the massive statewide mailing Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land's (R)
office sent out to all registered voters. Remember when he suggested it could be
part of an effort by Land to "clean up" the state voter file?
Well, take a look at this letter to a Michigan voter just obtained by Michiganliberal.com (click on image for .tif version):
Here's what it says:
State of Michigan
Department of State
Lansing
Residency Confirmation Request for Voter Registration Purposes
The voter registration you currently hold in the city or township
listed above may be cancelled as we have been advised that you no
longer reside at the address recorded on your voter registration.
(More below the fold...)
If you have permanently moved to an address outside of this
jurisdiction, please return the detachable reply form to confirm
your address as soon as possible. A pre-addressed postage paid return
envelope is enclosed for your convenience. Please note that in order to
vote, you must register with the clerk of the jurisdiction where you
now reside. (See below for information on how and where a personb may
register to vote or update his or her voter registration due to an
address or name change.)
If you have not permanently moved to an address outside this
jurisdiction, please return the detachable reply form in the
enclosed envelope to correct our information no later than the 30th day
before the next election. If the reply form is not returned by the 30th
day before the next election, you will be required to 1) vote in your
former precinct of residence and 2) submit an address correction before
voting. If the reply form is not returned, and you do not vote or
update your address by the federal November 2008 election, your voter
registration will be cancelled.
Information on registering to vote and changing your address or
name: Eligible persons may register to vote, change their name
in any of the following ways:
In Person - At your county, city or township clerk's
office; at any Secretary of State Branch office; at designated agencies
administered under the Department of Human Services, the Department of
Community Health, and the Department of Labor and Economic Growth; or
at military recruitment offices.
By Mail - By submitting a mail-in voter registration
application to your county, city or township clerk. Michigan's mail-in
voter registration application is available on the Department of
State's website: www.michigan.gov/vote.
(Please Print)
Reply Form
Full Name: __________________________
Telephone number:______________(optional)
I currently reside at: ____________________
&nbs
p;
____________________
&nbs
p;
____________________
Sign here__________________ Date______
(end of letter)
This past Friday, I spoke with
Ann Arbor City Clerk Jacqueline Beaudry.
Jackie says she's heard so far from 3 perturbed voters who are properly
registered and wondering why
the state wants to revoke their voter registration. She says some of
the people getting these letters are people who may currently be out of
state or voting overseas - which local clerks, not the state, would be
in a
position to know. Jackie says state elections officials have told her
about 230,000 of these letters have been mailed out.
So the state is trying to clean up the voter rolls. Big deal. What's the problem?
Well, for one thing, the State of Michigan
has no authority to do this. Under Michigan law (
MCL 168.509), only
city or township clerks have the ability to strike people from the voter rolls. Terri Land may not like that law. But that's what it says.
According to Grebner,
State Elections Director Chris Thomas says the SOS is proceeding under
the assumption that federal Help America Vote Act gives them the
ability to go forward. In other words, the Secretary of State has
apparently decided to unilaterally
ignore Michigan law - a law
properly approved by the Michigan Legislature, signed by the Governor
of Michigan and a law that has -
to date - survived all challenges in
the courts. In essence, this
activist Secretary of State appears to be substituting her own will for properly enacted state policy. Kinda reminds me of something
I read in the DN the other day by House Speaker Craig DeRoche (R-Novi) vis-a-vis the
Attorney General's right to make opinions:
One of the first things we learned and
our kids learn in government class is the separation of powers, the
idea that our three branches of government -- the executive,
legislative and judicial -- have different responsibilities and that no
one branch is more powerful than the others.
Hmm...why do you think it is that there is no mention of these cancellation letters anywhere on the SOS website? There's
plenty of news releases
about the mobile branch office going to South Lyon and the Michigan
State Fair. But nothing for people wondering if they're going to be allowed to vote? What's with the secrecy? Could it be Sec. Land is trying to
pull a fast one?
BTW, I wonder how many of those cancellation letters were sent to
college students or active duty military personnel? Also - does this
mean voters will be cancelled
before or
after the 2008 election? Not entirely clear from the letter.
P.S. - Just for spits and giggles,
here's an old AP article from WAY back in 2002, where Terri (the former Kent County Clerk) and former MI Republican chair Betsy DeVos (wife of Amway honcho and 2006 Republican gubernatorial hopeful Dick DeVos) talk about working on the Gerald Ford campaign together in 1976. Guess they go back awhile.