Thursday, June 13, 2019

INDEX

Vol. CXXVIII, No. 11
 © 2019 The Michigan Daily 

NEWS ....................................
OPINION ............................... 
ARTS......................................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................

MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Discovery

Cultural and culinary dis-

covery in “Always be my 

Maybe” and poetry by 

Nada Eldawy

 
 >> SEE PAGE 9

NEWS
Diversity in medicine

Students, faculty see need 

for more diversity in the 

University medical school

>> SEE PAGE 3

OPINION
Political celebrities 

Samantha Sella 

Fere explores the 

celebritization of 

politicians

 
 >> SEE PAGE 5

ARTS
Big releases

Comebacks for ‘Big Little 

Lies’ with Season 2 and 

The Jonas Brothers with 

“Happiness Begins”
 >> SEE PAGES 6 & 8

SPORTS
World Series

Baseball advances to 

Men’s College World 

Series for first time since 

1984

 
 >> SEE PAGE 12

inside

2
4
6
9
10

Secretary of 
State introduces 
college-age voter 
initatives 

On June 5, Secretary of State 
Jocelyn 
Benson 
announced 
several initiatives designed to 
encourage participation among 
student and college-age voters, 
including the strikedown of a 
current law requiring some first-
time voters to vote in person.
The changes come from a 
settlement meant to resolve a 
lawsuit brought forth by the 
University of Michigan’s chapter 
of 
College 
Democrats 
and 
other student groups alleging 
Michigan’s 
voting 
regulations 
unconstitutionally 
disfranchise 
younger voters.
“Going away to school shouldn’t 
complicate a student’s ability to 
vote,” Benson said. “Michigan 
has made great strides recently 
in improving access for all voters, 
and this is just the beginning of 
our work to ensure college-age 
voters have the information and 

opportunities they need to vote as 
engaged citizens.”
In late August 2018, College 
Democrats 
at 
University 
of 
Michigan, 
Michigan 
State 
University, Northern Michigan 
University and the Michigan 
Federation of College Democrats, 
with support from the Democratic 
Congressional 
Campaign 
Committee, filed a lawsuit against 
then-Secretary of State Ruth 
Johnson and Bureau of Elections 
Director Sally Williams.
According to the plaintiff’s press 
release, the lawsuit addresses two 
Michigan’s 
voter 
registration 
and ID laws, Michigan Public 
Act 118 and Michigan Compiled 
Laws 168.509t(2). The former 
law said the listed residence on 
a voter’s driver license and voter 
registration card must match, 
while the latter requires voters 
who register by mail or through 
a third-party voter registration 
drive to cast their first ballot 
in-person.
The plaintiffs, represented by 
Perkins Coie LLP and MSU law 
professor Mark Totten, allege 
the two laws discourage college-
age individuals from voting by 
unnecessarily complicating the 
process and making it more time-
consuming.
“(Y)oung voters in Michigan 
have 
faced 
unequal 
and 
consequential 
barriers 
in 

registering to vote and voting for 
the first time,” the complaint read. 
“Indeed, in many cases, these 
laws have resulted in a chilling 
effect that has kept eligible young 
voters in Michigan from voting 
and registering to vote entirely 
due to widespread confusion 
about the laws’ requirements and 
legal effects.”
In particular, plaintiffs claim 
the 
“First-Time/In-Person” 
requirement 
deter 
first-time 
student voters who have moved 
considerable distances to attend 
college or university, as they 
would need to return to their 
home precincts to cast their 
ballots.
After the lawsuit was filed, 
Michigan 
residents 
voted 
to 
adopt Proposal 3 during the 2018 
midterm election. Among other 
changes to Michigan’s election 
laws, Proposal 3 permits voters 
to cast an absentee ballot without 
providing a reason.
According 
to 
Benson’s 
announcement, 
she 
will 
be 
overturning Michigan Compiled 
Laws 168.509t(2) requiring first-
time voters to vote in-person, as 
allowing for no-reason absentee 
voting means the requirement 
is 
no 
longer 
constitutionally 
enforceable. 

Court-ordered 
meeting with 
Schlissel, ‘U’ 
reps delayed

Court of Appeals judge 
postpones settlement 
conference until 
further notice

Sixteen hours before University of 
Michigan President Mark Schlissel was 
expected at U.S. District Court in Detroit 
for a settlement conference as part of the 
lawsuit Doe v. University of Michigan, 
the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals 
released an order on Wednesday night 
postponing the meeting until further 
notice. The order grants an emergency 
motion for stay filed by University 
lawyers early Wednesday morning, 
which only asks the meeting be delayed.
The 
order 
gives 
the 
Court 
of 
Appeals time to review the merits of an 
emergency petition — filed at the same 
time as the motion — requesting the 
meeting be held without Schlissel and 
off the record. The Court of Appeals 
noted it may deny the requests of the 
petition without an answer.
In an email to The Daily, University 
spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald wrote 
that University officials — including 
Schlissel — were prepared to attend 
a private settlement conference this 
Thursday. Fitzgerald also wrote that 
the University confirmed with court 
clerks on May 24 the meeting would 
be private, which he claimed is “a 
normal 
expectation 
for 
settlement 
conferences.”
However, learning Tuesday morning 
District Court Judge Arthur Tarnow 
had ordered the meeting be held in 
open court instead, University lawyers 
filed two emergency requests, a step 
Fitzgerald called “extraordinary.”

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Read more at michigandaily.com

ALEX HARRING & 
CLAIRE HAO
Summer Managing News Editor & 
Summer News Editor

CLAIRE HAO &
MELANIE TAYLOR
Summer News Editors

Read more at michigandaily.com

michigandaily.com

College Dems lawsuit expands 
collegiate voting opportunities

MILES MACKLIN/Daily

