Michigan Senate passes state Voting Rights Act as federal act loses teeth

Michigan Senate Democrats on Tuesday celebrated the passage of a state-focused Voting Rights Act, although the legislation now heads to the Republican-led House of Representatives, which is unlikely to rush the four-bill package to the governor’s desk.

Senate Bills 961, 962, 963 and 964 each passed in the Legislature’s upper chamber on a 20-17 vote along party lines.

Michigan Democrats have for the past several years warned that the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court could and eventually would dismantle key provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.

That fear is now a reality with the U.S. high court’s latest action in Louisiana v. Callais, in which the six Republican-appointed justices voted to gut Section 2 of the act — the primary tool against discriminatory voting rights policies from states hostile to voters of color.



https://michiganadvance.com/2026/06/16/michigan-senate-passes-state-voting-rights-act-as-federal-act-loses-teeth/