(WWJ) Michigan residents overwhelmingly support the option to vote by mail, according to a new statewide poll from EPIC-MRA.
It shows 93% of Democrats, 69% of independents, and nearly 3-in-10 Republicans support it. 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.
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.
"The partisan attacks on voting by mail are falling on deaf ears according to our survey," said Bernie Porn, President of EPIC-MRA. "In the midst of the pandemic, voters want to be able to vote safely from home and they aren't buying fearmongering about election security. The President and his supporters are clearly going against the grain of public opinion."
The survey asked respondents which of two statements came closer to their view.
A 63% majority agreed with the statement, "Voting by mail has been successfully used in Michigan and many other states, ensures the health and safety of all voters and election workers, and we should work to make sure more Michigan voters have the opportunity to cast their ballots this way."
Only 33% agreed with the statement, "Voting by mail is not secure, and we should not encourage more use of it because it opens the door to widespread voter fraud."
Credible studies of voting by mail not only shows that there is no fraud in the process, and contrary to President Donald Trump's recent claim that it would end the Republican Party and cause him to lose, studies also show that voting by mail does not advantage either political party. In fact, recent elections that used vote by mail were won by Republicans, and Trump's own campaign and its affiliates have been pushing people to vote absentee to support GOP candidates.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson last month sent applications to vote by mail to all registered voters. In case you overlooked the one in your mailbox, Michiganders who want to vote absentee can download an absent voter ballot application at Michigan.gov/Vote.
The EPIC-MRA survey was conducted May 31, 2020 through June 4, 2020 in live phone interviews – including 40% cell phones - of 600 voters across the state. The study had a margin of error of +/- 4%.
