Please take action to protect Poll Challengers

Friends,

House Bill 4129 was reported out of committee last week, meaning it is headed to the House Floor for a vote, maybe as soon as tomorrow.

You will recall that PIME has testified against this bill because it would make you a felon if you somehow made an election worker “feel frightened” and had zero protections for poll challengers.

The bill they reported out of committee last week was a substitute bill. And while the substitute bill removed the “feel frightened” language, it still has no protections for poll challengers.

During last week’s House Elections committee hearing, Representative Smit (minority vice chair of that committee) proposed an amendment to add protections for poll challengers. The amendment failed by a 6-2 vote, along party lines.

In the prior week’s House Elections committee hearing, Representative Smit asked SOS Benson (who happened to be testifying) if there would be protections in the bill for poll challengers. SOS Benson’s reply was “no”.

So they have considered the roll of poll challengers and have knowingly decided to not offer them protections against prosecution for doing what is actually their job, challenging things they observe in a polling location that may not be right.

PIME feels this bill will drastically reduce the effectiveness of poll challengers and increase the potential for fraudulent activity as the poll challengers will be fearful of prosecution just for asking a question during the election process, which is of course their job.

For this reason, PIME still opposes HB4129.

Here is your call to action:

If you don’t want poll challengers to be prosecuted for challenging things that look questionable at polling locations, contact your state representative now and tell them how you feel about HB4129.

If you aren't sure who your Representative is, use the link below to find out:

Find_my_Representative

Here is a link to the bill if you would like to read it yourself: 2023-HB-4129

Also, check out PIME's website to get the latest update on all election related legislation:

https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/legislative-updates

Thank you for taking action!