Opinion | Extend electronic voting to Michigan military families overseas

I joined the United States Army for the same reason as most service members — to defend our freedom and protect my family and my country. These aren’t just things — they’re people, and they’re worth defending.

When I served as an active-duty member of the 82^nd Airborne and later as a medic in the Army National Guard, I made relationships that have lasted a lifetime with some of our country’s bravest and most selfless men and women. I know what they’re made of, and I know what they give up to stand guard for the United States.

I’ve moved on now to a different kind of service in the Michigan House of Representatives, and I’m absolutely committed to defending the families of our military members who are still on the front line to protect our freedom.

That’s why I’m backing a bipartisan package of bills making its way through the state House. House Bill 4210 was written to guarantee service members and their spouses who are deployed overseas have the right — and the ability — to cast a ballot that counts each and every election.

Anyone who has ever been stationed overseas or deployed knows the toll deployment can take on local relationships, family and friends. It makes it harder to vote, too. Our heroes have typically relied on mail voting options that all too often bring with them delays in the delivery of ballots to voters and in the return of completed ballots to election officials by legal deadlines. 

Almost 15 years ago, Congress took its first step towards simplifying the process for service members overseas by requiring they have at least one means of electronic ballot delivery, and states across the country have spent the years since perfecting the process. 

Right now, 31 states, including Texas and Florida, allow military voters to return absentee ballots via fax. Additionally, twenty-six states let them return them via email, while other states, such as Alabama and Arizona, use secure and proven online portals to make it easier on their local soldiers away from home.

Members of our armed services and their families from Michigan deserve to have their votes counted, too — especially those who’ve put their lives on hold to stand between our families and a world of danger. 

House Bill 4210 is an important step. It will allow the absentee votes of family members stationed alongside these very few and very proud individuals to be returned securely and electronically. It’s a minor update to bipartisan reforms approved and signed into law in 2022 to ensure our service members’ spouses and families aren’t left behind.

We have the technology to execute this securely. We’ve begun doing it for our service members. They want their family members to have the same secure opportunities, and I get it. The role and the risks family members face might be different, but the disruptions and the voting challenges are the same.

I’m determined to deliver better for our servicemembers, and I’m not the only one. This legislation is backed by Democrats, by Republicans, by folks who voted for Joe Biden and by folks who voted for President Trump. 

That’s because this bill isn’t politics as usual. It’s about doing the right thing.