Michigan enacts law requiring automatic voter registration for individuals leaving prison

Flint, MI — Percy Glover has been working to help Flint’s returning citizens participate in local voting elections and policy issues for years.

Before founding his nonprofit, Free Access and Inclusive Rights (F.A.I.R.) Voting Alliance in 2022, Glover would help register voters at Michigan’s Parole and Probation Office in Flint.

“One of the things I remember, there was a gentleman who had no idea who our current mayor was at that time,” Glover recalled of that early voting advocacy work. “That was my first time hearing that. How could you not know who the mayor is, out of all the elected officials in the city, across the county?”

But, Glover said he did know how someone might be unaware of who their current mayor was — elections aren’t a priority when you have more immediate, personal concerns.

“If you are financially in a bad place, you are emotionally in a bad place. When you are emotionally in a bad place, a lot of the time you’re mentally in a bad place,” explained Glover, who spent many years behind bars before his release nearly 20 years ago.

Glover said adding all those things together, a person, imprisoned or otherwise, tends to tune out of what doesn’t seem to immediately serve them.

“If I’m going through all these internal struggles. Why would I care about who was elected, who is running for a race, all of that?” Glover said. “Impoverished populations don’t vote because they’re just that: in poverty. But if we don’t vote certain dollars [and] millages don’t come into the community.”

While Glover noted that he understands why people returning from prison may not have the notion to “register to vote” high up on their to-do list, he’s also happy that a new state law will automatically take care of that for them.

House Bill 4983

House Bill 4983 was signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Nov. 30, 2023. 

It’s the first law in the U.S. to require a state to register people to vote when they’re released from prison, according to Bolts, a digital magazine covering criminal justice and voting rights topics across the country.

The law does so by ordering the Department of Corrections (DOC) to work with the Secretary of State to register people to vote as they are released, although those individuals do have the option to decline registration afterward.

The new legislation, introduced by state Representative Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing), was signed among a package of election bills that aim to “improve election efficiency, increase voter registration opportunities, and protect equal access to the ballot box,” according to Whitmer’s Nov. 30 press release.

“Today, with the signing of these bills, we affirm Michigan as a place where every voice matters and that our state is dedicated to truly being a government for the people,” Tsernoglou herself said in a prepared statement on Dec. 1.

Glover told Flint Beat that the new legislation is “great,” but it will need to coincide with educational initiatives to create an impact. He believes that being registered to vote doesn’t merely guarantee people will participate in elections.

“Does that [automatic voter registration] drive a higher turnout? Maybe, but probably not.” Glover said. “Because, guess what? If I’m leaving prison … I think about my best needs: income, housing … transportation, food, clothes. That’s my focus. I could care less about voting rights.”

He said he believes the DOC (Department of Corrections) will do its part in letting returning citizens know of the new policy on their way out of prison, but teaching civics and learning about one’s political capital should be a priority for everyone, everywhere — from schoolrooms to community centers, and nursing homes to dinner tables.

“Heightened, broadened education is important,” Glover concluded. “It’s a responsibility that, actually, is a responsibility for us all.”