A Michigan Senate committee moved forward bills Wednesday to outlaw political petition circulators being paid by the signature as part of a package of election fraud and disinformation deterrents.
The goal is to discourage abuses such as circulators lying or forging names to boost their signature counts.
“Each election cycle provides new reporting of bad actors using deception and dishonesty as the tools to garner signatures for their cause,” said Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), chair of the Senate Elections and Ethics Committee.
Moss noted Michigan is behind other states that have already enacted protections against political petition fraud. He said an overhaul of what’s allowed and not allowed by paid petition circulators in Michigan is long overdue.
“Despite this long history and many examples of this type of deceptive behavior, state laws in Michigan simply do not exist to dissuade this cavalier disregard for the credibility of our citizen-led petition process,” he said.
In 2022, five Republican candidates for governor were disqualified from the Michigan primary ballot because of fraudulent petition signatures gathered by paid circulators.
Another bill in the package would create penalties for spreading disinformation on where, when or how to vote.
The bills were adopted with only the support of Democrats on the committee. Senator Ruth Johnson (R-Groveland Township) – a former Michigan Secretary of State – said she understands the intent of the legislation.
“But I really don’t think they represent really an effective deterrent to fraud,” she said. “I also feel like the legislation addressing false statements and misrepresentations, in particular, could be enforced in a very partisan or political-motivated manner.”
The bills now go to the Senate floor. Similar bills cleared the Senate last year, but were never taken up by the House before the session ended in December.
