Gloves off as Senate OKs ban on straight-ticket voting

LANSING — In moves political observers said were directly related to the recent resolution of the protracted road funding issue, Senate Republicans on Tuesday advanced a raft of election and union-related measures that enraged Democrats.

The GOP moved out of committee Tuesday and then through the full Senate a bill to ban an automatic check box for straight-ticket voting, which is seen as benefiting Democrats more than Republicans. Senators added a $1-million appropriation to the bill, making it "referendum proof." A similar measure the Legislature approved in 2001 was rejected by Michigan voters the following year. But under state law, bills that include an appropriation, as Senate Bill 13 does, can't be rejected by voters.

"This appropriation is a $1-million insurance policy against the will of the people," said Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing.

The Senate also passed a bill that moves the election of the Oakland County executive from presidential voting years, when Democratic turnout is strongest, to gubernatorial election years, when Democratic turnout is weaker. And it sent to the state House four bills that Democrats described as anti-union, including measures prohibiting public employers from authorizing paid release time for unionized employees to conduct union business.

The actions came one week after Republicans had to rely almost entirely on their own votes to narrowly pass a $1.2-billion road funding package, which Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law Tuesday, after talks on a bipartisan deal broke down.

Susan Demas, editor and publisher of the Capitol newsletter Inside Michigan Politics, said it's putting it too strongly to say Republicans were exacting retribution against Democrats for not supporting a road funding deal, though it might seem that way.

"These bills were always going to come up for a vote — it was just a matter of when," Demas told the Free Press.

As long as the GOP thought it might need Democratic votes to get a road funding deal done, it didn't make sense to move legislation that would get Democrats up in arms, she said.

"Now that roads are off the table, it's sort of open season."

Demas said the same thing could have happened had Democrats joined forces with Republicans to pass a road funding deal, since the conclusion of a road funding deal would still have meant there was no longer a reason for Republicans to hold back legislation that was on their agenda.

Democrats and local clerks call straight ticket voting a convenience for people casting ballots that helps keep polling lines at precincts moving quicker.

On Tuesday, the Senate Elections and Government Reform Committee voted 4-1 — along party lines — to eliminate the option to mark one box on a ballot that will trigger an all-Republican or all-Democrat vote down the rest of the ballot. The full Senate later passed the measure in a 23-13 vote, with Republicans adding a $1-million appropriation they said was to help pay for auditing and fraud prevention.

“This still allows for straight-ticket voting,” said bill sponsor Sen. Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy. “It just does away with the automatic check box.”

Michigan Legislature, heal thyself

Forty other states have done away with the straight-ticket voting option and there’s no reason that Michigan shouldn’t join that list, Knollenberg said.

“Shouldn’t we encourage citizens to fully engage in the selection of our leaders by pausing at each office and voting for an individual on their merits,” he said, and not by their partisan label.

Michigan ranks last in laws on ethics, transparency

But Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope and the Michigan Townships Association, which represents 1,240 local clerks, said they adamantly oppose getting rid of the option for voters.

“It will cause increased wait for voters. Even if it only takes an individual 30 seconds, that 30 seconds stacks up,” Swope said. “I think elections should be about what voters want and they say they want to continue this option.”

The Legislature voted to eliminate straight party ticket voting in 2001, but voters rejected that law the next year.

In 2014, in Oakland County, 109,711 people voted a straight Democratic ticket while 108,211 voted a straight Republican ticket. But in Wayne County, 224,806 people voted a straight Democratic ticket while 71,846 people voted a straight Republican ticket. In Macomb County, 60,048 people voted straight Democratic while 53,130 voted straight Republican.

“Shouldn’t I as a voter have that option? Why would I take that option away from voters?” asked Sen. Morris Hood, D-Detroit. “Everything that you’re asking for, I can currently do right now. You’re asking for an individual to check each and every candidate on the list. But that should be up to me.”

Tom Frazier, legislative liaison for the Michigan Township Association, said it was an insult to voters to say that they are unaware of who they’re voting for if they select the straight-party option.

“A large percentage of the population supports one party or another. And this will force them to unnecessarily spend more time casting their ballot when they can conveniently vote for one party,” he said. “Michigan already has one, if not the longest ballots in the country. Moving people through the polling place efficiently and quickly is important.”

And the Legislature has also passed laws this year that eliminate February as an option for elections, squeezing all elections into May, August or November and forcing more issues to be put on those ballots.

But Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton, said the change is long past due.

“I’m so tired of partisanship. This is a great way for voters to look at individuals and not the label,” he said.

House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, said Tuesday he wasn't familiar with the details of the bill related to straight-ticket voting, but "I'm going to spend some time with the bill when they send it over," and it's possible the House could take it up soon.

The Senate also voted to move the elections for Oakland County executive away from presidential years, onto the same four-year cycle used for Michigan to elect its governor.

Republican L. Brooks Patterson has served as Oakland County executive since 1993, but Democrats have been putting up big numbers in Oakland County in recent presidential elections and the GOP wants to help assure they can elect a Republican successor when Patterson retires, Demas said.

Also Tuesday, the Senate narrowly approved Senate Bills 279 and 280, prohibiting public employers from authorizing paid release time for unionized employees to conduct union business.

Supporters say government workers shouldn’t be compensated for time not spent working for taxpayers, and unions can bear the expense for workers to handle grievances, bargaining and other functions.

Opponents say not having union representatives available during work hours to address issues would undermine local control and hamper management’s ability to address issues quickly. Democrats charge the bills are another Republican attack on collective bargaining.

The legislation now heads to the GOP-controlled House.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.  Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.