“Voting rights are precious, and we need to work especially hard to make it possible for people to vote,” Snyder said.

The bills passed include stricter monitoring of voter registrations and election materials prior to the election, as well as permitting members of the armed forces to vote in elections by absentee ballots.

The vetoed bills would require voters to provide photo identification before being able to vote and to provide proof of citizenship before receiving a ballot.

House of Representatives Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, said he was “deeply disappointed” about the vetoes, which he said were reasonable changes to keep elections open and efficient.

The governor’s vetoes seemed to be a victory for left-leaning politicians and advocates who thought the proposed stricter voter requirements would suppress minorities or less affluent voters.

“These bills wouldn’t have improved elections in Michigan,” state Rep. Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield, said in a statement. “They would only have discouraged thousands of people from participating in the democratic process.”

Another vetoed bill would require third-party voter registration groups to receive training on handling applications by an elections clerk.

Although Snyder praised the cooperation between the Legislature and the Secretary of State, he said the bills might interfere with ongoing voter registration efforts.

Todd Cook, director of We Are The People Michigan, a coalition advocating for Michigan’s middle class, said a petition of more than 2,800 signatures was sent to Snyder asking him not to sign the bills.

“There’s no good rea­son to make it harder for peo­ple to vote, or to make it harder for civic and com­mu­nity orga­ni­za­tions to reg­is­ter vot­ers,” Cook said.