State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey has moved his answer from “no” to “maybe.” That’s in response to efforts to speed up the counting of absentee ballots on election night.
Local clerks have been flooded with absentee ballot requests since it became easier to vote absentee. Those votes aren’t counted until after polls have closed and all the other votes have been tallied. Local clerks say the surge in absentee voting could pose undue hardships on election workers and delay final results by many hours.
Senator Shirkey’s press secretary, Amber McCann, says he is now open to persuasion.
“He, yes, is going to move forward with a more open mind on the proposal.”
Another Republican, state Senator Ruth Johnson, has sponsored a bill to speed up counting absentee votes. She says this can be done without endangering ballot security. Johnson is a former county clerk who also served two
terms as Michigan’s Secretary of State.