{"id":5530,"date":"2026-06-17T20:49:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/michigan-senate-passes-michigan-voting-rights-act-moves-on-to-michigan-house-michigan-senate-passes-voting-rights-act\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T20:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T20:49:08","slug":"michigan-senate-passes-michigan-voting-rights-act-moves-on-to-michigan-house-michigan-senate-passes-voting-rights-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/michigan-senate-passes-michigan-voting-rights-act-moves-on-to-michigan-house-michigan-senate-passes-voting-rights-act\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Senate passes Michigan Voting Rights Act, moves on to Michigan House\u00a0 Michigan Senate passes Voting Rights Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/senate.michigan.gov\/\">Michigan Senate<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/michiganadvance.com\/2026\/06\/16\/michigan-senate-passes-state-voting-rights-act-as-federal-act-loses-teeth\/\">passed<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naacpldf.org\/ldf-mission\/political-participation\/michigan-voting-rights-act\/\">Michigan Voting Rights Act<\/a> \u2014 a voting rights package including Senate Bills <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2026-SB-0961\">961<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2026-SB-0962\">962<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2026-SB-0963\">963<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2026-SB-0964\">964<\/a> \u2014\u00a0Tuesday afternoon. If passed by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.mi.gov\/\">Michigan House of Representatives<\/a>, the bills <a href=\"https:\/\/legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/2025-2026\/billanalysis\/Senate\/pdf\/2026-SFA-0961-F.pdf\">would<\/a> prohibit discriminatory actions that restrict voters\u2019 access. The MVRA establishes a Michigan Voting Rights Assistance Fund and allows individuals to file lawsuits against actions targeting voting access. The package now heads for a vote in the Michigan House of Representatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The package follows a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/state-legislatures-news\/details\/supreme-court-narrows-voting-rights-act-upending-redistricting-law\">ruling<\/a> by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/\">U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> in April which limited the enforcement of the federal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/research-reports\/voting-rights-act-explained\">Voting Rights Act of 1965<\/a> \u2014 including how states employ race-based redistricting through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/research-reports\/gerrymandering-explained\">gerrymandering<\/a> practices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a <a href=\"https:\/\/content.govdelivery.com\/accounts\/MISOS\/bulletins\/41c5618\">press release<\/a>, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wrote that she believes implementing the voting package is critical to protecting Michigan\u2019s voting rights, and encouraged state leaders of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.house.mi.gov\/AllRepresentatives\">Michigan House of Representatives<\/a> to pass the MVRA.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cToday, the state Senate passed the Michigan Voting Rights Act (MVRA), advancing the fight against voter suppression and taking a stand for Michigan voters,\u201d Benson wrote. \u201cI now urge House lawmakers to pass the MVRA and send these essential legal protections to the Governor\u2019s desk.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a separate <a href=\"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/chang\/2026\/06\/16\/senate-democrats-take-steps-to-protect-michigan-voters-pass-michigan-voting-rights-act\/\">press release<\/a>, state Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, who co-sponsored the package, said protecting voting rights should be a top priority for lawmakers throughout the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA strong, representative democracy depends on every voter being able to access and understand the voting process,\u201d Chang wrote. \u201cThe Michigan Voting Rights Act ensures every eligible voter \u2014 of every language, race, ability, or zip code \u2014 can cast their vote accurately and without fear of being silenced, thereby increasing participation in our elections and strengthening democracy for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Loren Khogali, executive director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclumich.org\/\">ACLU of Michigan<\/a>, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclumich.org\/press-releases\/michigan-senate-passes-crucial-state-voting-rights-act-to-prevent-racial-discrimination-in-voting\/\">press release<\/a> that the MVRA is essential to limiting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/interactive\/2021\/05\/politics\/black-voting-rights-suppression-timeline\/\">racial discrimination<\/a> \u2014 especially against Black voters \u2014 in the voting process.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe intent of these anti-democracy policies is to control the outcome of our elections and disempower Black voters, voters of color and disabled voters from picking elected leaders at the local, state and federal level,\u201d Khogali wrote. \u201cIn Michigan, voters have made it clear that it should be easy for all eligible voters to cast their ballots. Full stop.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the same press release, state Sen. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, said as federal voting protections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/06\/05\/nx-s1-5836682\/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-state-redistricting\">weaken<\/a>, Michigan leaders must work to ensure all voters\u2019 rights are protected.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs federal voting protections are being eroded by those who are afraid of losing at the ballot box, we\u2019re fighting back to ensure every eligible Michigander can freely and fairly participate in our elections \u2014 because a true democracy reflects the will of all of us, not just a select few,\u201d Brinks wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Managing News Editor Aanya Panyadahundi can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/michigan-senate-passes-michigan-voting-rights-act-moves-on-to-michigan-house\/mailto:aanyatp@umich.edu\"><em>aanyatp@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>. Daily News Editor Gia Verma can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/michigan-senate-passes-michigan-voting-rights-act-moves-on-to-michigan-house\/mailto:giaverma@umich.edu\"><em>giaverma@umich.edu<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Michigan Senate passed the Michigan Voting Rights Act \u2014 a voting rights package including Senate Bills 961, 962, 963 and 964 \u2014\u00a0Tuesday afternoon. If passed by the Michigan House of Representatives, the bills would prohibit discriminatory actions that restrict voters\u2019 access. The MVRA establishes a Michigan Voting Rights Assistance Fund and allows individuals to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[592,51,222,3034,1966,2644,656,4939],"class_list":["post-5530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-act","tag-house","tag-michigan","tag-moves","tag-passes","tag-rights","tag-senate","tag-voting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5532,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5530\/revisions\/5532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}