(WWJ/AP) A judge has refused to stop Michigan's Secretary of State from sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications to millions of voters.
Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens rejected a request for a preliminary injunction.
Michiganders in 2018 approved "no reason" absentee voting by a vote of 66.8%, and amended the state constitution to allow for it by law. So the issue at hand isn't whether it's OK for voters to vote by mail, it's whether it was OK for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to send the applications.
In her ruling, Stephens decided yes, stating that an application is merely an application; and that it can be thrown away if someone doesn't want to act on it.
The plaintiffs in the case, Yvonne Black and Nevin Cooper-Keel, are Republican candidates for the state House. Cooper-Keel said the applications are a ploy to encourage early voting and rob him of an opportunity to campaign.
Benson has defended the absentee ballot application as a way for people to avoid the risk for the coronavirus at a polling place.
"While we know that in August, September, we may hopefully be in a different scenario health-wise with this pandemic, we wanted to ensure that regardless of what situation we may be in then that every citizen in our state felt confident that they could choose to vote by mail, and they have the right to do so," Benson told WWJ's Beth Fisher.
A recent survey showed a majority Michiganders still want the option to vote absentee.
A new poll from EPIC-MRA found 93% of Democrats, 69% of independents, and nearly 3-in-10 Republicans support voting by mail. Pollsters say that includes strong support in every region of the state, as well as every demographic, age group, income group, level of education, religious group and racial group. (More on the poll here).
This comes as some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have argued against widespread voting by mail. On April 8, Trump tweeted: "Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, (it) doesn't work out well for Republicans."
Benson, however, says there is no evidence of one political party gaining an advantage with absentee ballots; and in other states, she said, elections officers from both parties are doing it.
In case you overlooked the one in your mailbox, Michiganders who want to vote absentee can download a ballot application at Michigan.gov/Vote.
