Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) on Friday criticized the Republican Party’s efforts in several states to revise electoral rules, arguing that the Republican Party is being “led by people who do not believe in democracy”.
During an interview Friday with Ali Velshi of MSNBC, Benson said that recently passed or proposed laws in some states are a direct response to “great emancipation ”in the last elections, including in 2020, when a record number of people voted, especially those in minority communities.
“Everything is in danger if you don’t have the power to determine who represents you and hold you accountable,” said Benson. “And for those who are now in the leadership trying to take that power away, it’s reprehensible.”
The interview followed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
Brian Kemp Democrats see Georgia as a round of applause in the Tornado Voting War leaves at least 1 dead in Newnan, Georgia Bill Clinton over Georgia’s new voting restrictions: ‘An attack on our democracy’ MOREThe signing of ‘s (R) on Thursday night of a controversial law that imposes restrictions on voting in the state, including limiting the number of polling places and requiring photo identification for the absent vote. The law also gives state legislators broad powers over how elections are held.
Michigan senators introduced similar legislation on Wednesday, placing limits on absenteeism voting in the state, including identity requirements the Secretary of State to send unsolicited absenteeism votes or make them available online.
Republicans argue that the bills would help restore confidence in the state’s voting system, which they themselves have helped to undermine through months of denied allegations that Michigan’s election results have been tampered with widespread fraud.
However, Benson, who after the 2020 elections faced threats of violence from some of the former President Trump
Donald TrumpDemocrats see Georgia as a round of applause in the MLB war for voting rights may move Georgia’s All-Star game after further restrictions from controversial Biden voters dismiss most DHS advisory board members MORESupporters of the vote to certify President Biden’s victory said on Friday that the proposed voting laws in Michigan “it would make it significantly more difficult for people to actually access ”the right to vote.
“It is a series of things that make administering voting rights in Michigan very, very difficult and will have a clear impact on making it difficult for people to vote, especially in historically disenfranchised communities, urban communities and among young voters.” Said Benson.
She went on to say that the recent proposals “really emphasize that the Republican Party in Michigan and across the country is a party led by people who do not believe in democracy.”
“History teaches us that often, after these moments of great emancipation, efforts to deprive the right to vote come … and that is what we are seeing now,” said Benson.
Democrats criticized the list of new bills, with President Biden on Friday calling Georgia’s new law “Jim Crow in the 21st century ”, due to the disproportionate impact it is expected to have on black voters in the state, who attended record numbers in 2020 and 2021 to ensure electoral victories for Democrats.
Kemp, however, pushed back on this characterization, writing in a statement, “There is nothing ‘Jim Crow’ about requiring a state-issued photo or ID to vote by absentee vote – every voter in Georgia must already do so when voting in person.”