Take Back Detroit! Same Day Voter Registration for increased people participation.

"Voter Participation is vital to our Nation” Mr. Cushingberry said one day last week in Lansing to a group of constituents visiting from the 8 Mile Old Timers Association. And to increase participation, people should be allowed the courtesy to register to vote at the polls and cast their ballot. The recent Detroit special election only brought out %12 of the voters to the polls. Some of the candidates that finished behind Bing and Cockrell got enough votes from the members of their church and immediate family to say that they were in an election. All of the candidates should be commended for participating in the process to improve the general health and welfare of the people. After all, if they did not care, they would have never started the process.

I will encourage Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey to allow same day voter registration for Detroit residents to increase participation in the process. If you will turn 18 on or before Election Day and, a Citizen of Detroit on day of the election, you will be allowed to vote that day. This program will extend to schools to give the youth a chance to participate in the process of voting. Any student in the Detroit Public School system who will turn 18 on or before May 5th will be allowed to register and vote absentee at their school. This is a very important fact for young males to vote because when they turn 18, they have to register for the draft or get charged with a felony. For the young person that cannot make the connect between the two, they need to be educated on the consequences of not voting if a national emergency requires a decision to place young men in active military service.

Rep. Cushingberry will be spearheading a program with other State and Local legislators whose districts include the Detroit area to start this program for the Detroit Mayors race on May 5th, 2009. Along with representatives from the City Clerks office, a policy to allow people to register to vote and cast their ballot on May 5th would be put in place. In all truth the process is already in place because with the new technology, polling places can allow provisional ballots to be cast and, by adding the ability to register and vote at the polling place, participation will increase. In Lansing, I will push to adopt this program Statewide with policy and information technology professionals at the Secretary of State’s Office.

With regards to online balloting, the process is lacking accountability and verification at the moment. Information Technology professionals must convince the people that the process is protected from fraud through tight controls and other security measures. It is not a matter of how, it is a matter of when will it happen and the date certain. As the current situation stands now, Mr. Cushingberry does not support online voting at this time. By increasing the opportunity to vote, more people will have the opportunity to determine the direction of their city, the quality of city services, and the gift of giving back to the land so that others may prosper.

Same Day Voter Registration is the way to go!