Great Lakes Wire

Tom Norton, Afghanistan War veteran and Republican primary candidate for Michigan's 2nd Congressional District, recently expressed his strong opposition to Proposal 2 in a recent video. Despite current ads being run, service members do currently have the ability to vote and Proposal 2 would weaken voter ID laws in the Midwest state, making elections less secure.

Norton clarifies the misleading advertisements currently being run about Proposal 2. He said these ads are trying to convince voters that U.S. service members do not have the ability to vote when overseas, however, he confirms the Department of Defense and the federal government have passed laws to protect the right to vote up to Election Day.

“Proposal 2 doesn't do anything to advance federal law that is already in place. In fact, what it does, is it weakens Voter ID laws, it allows ballot harvesting to become legal, it makes it so drop boxes are not secure, and it destroys the strength of the American voters' vote. In fact, it is so unpatriotic, you have to think about the millions of Americans that died for the right to vote to be secured. There is nothing more insulting to us veterans than for the vote to be weakened, and for us to be exploited on something that is untrue,” Norton said in the video. 

A “yes” vote on Proposal 2 would amend Michigan's Constitution regarding election law, according to Bridge Michigan. This includes allowing nine days of early in-person voting, an added absentee-ballot box in every city and township, as well as allowing clerks to accept outside private donations to fund their public elections. The proposal would also allow voters without an ID on hand to continue to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity.

According to his campaign website, election integrity is one of Norton's top issues, as he believes it should be easy to vote and hard to cheat.

WXYZ Detroit confirms the Democrat-led group Promote the Vote 2022 is behind Proposal 2. It's also noted the proposal has major endorsements from Democratic organizations like the ACLU of Michigan, League of Women Voters Michigan, the Michigan AFL-CIO, NAACP Michigan, United Way, Voters Not Politicians and more.

According to the Michigan Secretary of State's office, voters do not currently need to show a photo ID to register to vote and a utility bill qualifies as a form of ID.