Michigan Senate passes 3 voting bills with new restrictions
CNN
The Michigan Senate on Wednesday passed three bills that would restrict voting rights in the state as part of a larger Republican-led package intended to overhaul election laws, despite Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's all-but-certain veto of the measures.
The state Senate advanced the measures -- part of a 39-bill package introduced by state Republicans earlier this year -- in 19-16 votes. One bill would require those requesting mail-in ballots to provide driver's license or state identification numbers. The other two would require ID for in-person voting and allow people to vote only via provisional ballots without it. They now move to the state's House for consideration before they can be sent to Whitmer's desk. Whitmer has repeatedly denounced the bills, but GOP officials have threatened to circumvent the governor and end-run her expected veto by capitalizing on a quirk of Michigan law. If Republicans gather 340,000 signatures in a petition drive, the House and Senate can enact legislation without the governor having the power to veto it.President Joe Biden on Sunday delivers his first commencement address of the 2024 season at Morehouse College, where the president may for the first time in months have to confront the angst that’s been percolating on college campuses nationwide toward his administration’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war.
Arab and Palestinian Americans left a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday night frustrated they did not have a clear understanding of how the Biden administration might act upon their concerns as the Israel-Hamas war devastates the civilian population in Gaza, participants told CNN.