Great Lakes Wire

Saginaw attorney Greg Schmid views the Secure MI Vote initiative as a step in the right direction toward election reform in Michigan.

“I signed the petition the moment I saw it,” Schmid, who’s personally been involved in election reform efforts ranging from term limits to protecting the citizen initiative process, told Great Lakes Wire. “It is a good idea for Michigan elections.”

Schmid said he is motivated to support the concepts of Secure MI by the need to take a more proactive stance against election fraud. 

"Importantly, there is a serious problem with the perception of fraud – election laws must be proactive to prevent fraud rather than merely react to it, and must reinforce the confidence of voters to know that their vote counts,” he said. “Most of us lock our doors at night. Not because we have been robbed, but to be as certain as possible that we will not be."

One of the elements of Secure MI would prohibit private money from being used to tinker with the operations of the election process, as in the case of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's spending massive amounts of “Zuckerbucks” to influence the outcomes of the 2020 elections.

"Money buys influence, from whatever source,” Schmid said. “There should be no financial outside influence on official election procedures – which are governmental, not private, functions. These private funds were often used for online and mail registration drives, which are thinly veiled, selective get-out-the-vote drives that should be funded by candidates and parties and disclosed as such."

Schmid said he has no problem with the initiative process utilized in Michigan, which some have claimed are unfair because if enough people (roughly 340,000) sign a petition, the legislature can enact the statute without the governor having an opportunity to veto the measure.

"Other states with the statutory initiative process (like Utah and Washington) allow a vote without veto to enact proposals supported by hundreds of thousands of petition-signers, and it is the sheer volume of voter support as evidenced by those signatures plus the support of the legislature that justifies a no veto policy in Michigan,” Schmid said. “What governor could object to the combined will of the people and the legislature.”

On its website, Secure MI Vote touts itself as being committed to "strengthening the security of [Michigan] elections through enhancements to our election laws, better preparedness, increased training and constant communication with our local elections directors."

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Michigan is now one of 36 states requiring voters to show a form of ID at the polls. If an ID isn't presented, voters are asked to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity.