LANSING, Mich., Sept. 14, 2023 — Earlier today, state Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) introduced House Bill 4983, part of a package of bills (4983-4986) that would increase the number of state agencies that offer secure automatic voter registration services. The legislation would complement HB 4569, which has already passed the Michigan House, to pre-register young eligible Michigan voters.
“This bill represents a historic effort to improve and expand automatic voter registration services for communities throughout Michigan,” said Tsernoglou, chair of the House Elections Committee. “By upgrading this system, we can save taxpayers money, improve the accuracy of the voter rolls, promote election security and expand access for eligible voters all at once.”
Current automatic voter registration services are only provided at Secretary of State branch offices. Tsernoglou’s legislation would expand automatic voter registration services to Michigan Medicaid agencies, tribal government offices that choose to participate, the Michigan Department of Corrections, and other agencies that already collect and verify information required to confirm voter eligibility.
The measure also upgrades the existing automatic voter registration system, streamlines the process, improves registration rates, adds layers of automatic eligibility verification, maintains voter roll accuracy and cuts costs for taxpayers.