By Mike Kruzman/News@whmi.com


A controversial change to an election bill led by a local lawmaker that would require signature verification at the polls is being dropped by State Republicans.

Republican State Representative Ann Bollin of Brighton Township chairs the House Elections Committee. Last month, the committee amended two Senate-approved bills that required all voters to not only provide photo identification to cast a ballot, but also have their signature verified.

Though it was stated at the time that the signature verification would only be required if a voter did not have a valid ID, it appeared to be written in a way that required all voters to be subject to it.

The changes drew criticism from Democrats and election officials statewide. It was believed the verification process would slow lines down, and open up challengers to elections to nitpick the signatures of even people that had valid ID.

According to The Bridge Michigan, Republicans are now dropping that measure. Bollin said that during testimony, clerks brought up that it would be challenging having election workers checking signatures, and that as a former clerk herself, she highly regards their opinions.

This decision comes a week after one of the bill’s sponsors, Republican State Senator Tom Barrett, said that photo ID should be enough and that that should be the mechanism for verifying someone’s identity, not signatures.