Ruth Johnson in Support of No-Reason Absentee Voting

On Monday, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said she is in support of “no reason” absentee voting (AV) 45 days ahead of Election Day. In an interview with MLive, she noted that enacting legislation to allow for the no reason AV ballot would be a top priority for her should she be reelected. When asked if the state should follow similar systems in other states, Johnson replied that this would be impractical as smaller communities in Michigan have clerk’s offices running out of their homes.

Johnson said that online voting systems are not a viable option due to internet security issues. She also added that the state may be looking at getting new voting machines in a few years, an issue she will discuss with local clerks. Johnson said that apart from absentee voting issues, her biggest issue will be combating auto-insurance fraud. A concerted effort by her administration yielded some success, she said, but fraud is still a problem.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, October 10, 2014 10:52 AM
LINK DIRECTLY TO THIS ARTICLE

Polls Show Snyder Leading Schauer, Peters Lead Growing

With Election Day less than a month away, new polls are showing solidified leads in both major races in the state. Governor Snyder, who is running for re-election, and Gary Peters, running for the open U.S. Senate seat, have both shown leads outside of the margin of error in multiple polls.

Snyder-Schauer: Two polls, one released by the Glengariff Group for the Detroit News and the other by Lansing-based Marketing Resource Group (MRG) show Rick Snyder holding a statistically significant lead over Mark Schauer. Glengariff had Snyder leading by almost 8 percent, while MRG had the lead at a little over 5 percent. Both agencies polled 600 likely voters and had margins of error of 4 percent. In late August, multiple polls had shown Schauer leading Snyder within the margin of error. In the last several months Michigan’s unemployment rate has dropped and Snyder’s job approval rating was shown to be 55-40 and 54-41 in the MRG and Glengariff polls respectively. This improved sentiment, coupled with the Governor’s recent television advertisements, has likely created the current polling outcomes.

Peters-Land: In the last five polls released from the end of September to the beginning of October, Gary Peters has showed an average lead over Terri Land of 46 percent to 36 percent. Republican hopes of winning the open Senate seat are dwindling, and the Republican Senatorial Committee has pulled the $850 million in funding it had reserved for Land’s campaign. It is unclear whether B-PAC, a super PAC targeting Gary Peters for supporting President Obama and other Democratic leaders, will continue its efforts. However, Ending Spending, a super PAC led by TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, will likely continue to air television ads targeting Peters. On the other side of the PAC discussion, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s super PAC Independence USA has announced its support for Gary Peters, which should prove to be valuable in the coming weeks.

posted by PAA Online , 10:51 AM
LINK DIRECTLY TO THIS ARTICLE

PAAdvisory Briefs

Kalamazoo River Tests Positive for Asian Carp DNA

The Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have begun a new sequence of water testing in the Kalamazoo River following a positive test for Asian Carp DNA in July. Officials noted that the findings could be due to the species’ presence, or due to the tracking of the DNA into the river from another source. DNA has been found in other places in southern Michigan, but has so far not been the result of the actual introduction of the invasive species.

Tax Filing Deadline Extended for Flooded Businesses

The Internal Revenue Service and the Michigan Department of Treasury have extended the August 11th quarterly deadline for businesses in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties affected by the summer’s flooding. The extension will also apply to those with individual income tax extensions through October 15th and those paying the Michigan Business Tax or the Corporate Income Tax.

Eric Doster Opens Law Firm

Longtime Republican counsel of Foster, Swift, Collins and Smith is opening his own law firm to focus on campaign finance, elections and public policy law. Doster spent 26 years with his former firm prior to the opening of his new Okemos firm.

posted by PAA Online , 10:50 AM
LINK DIRECTLY TO THIS ARTICLE

This Week's Newsletter

Past Newsletters