Jan. 22’s article (“Byrum discusses election reform with student Dems,” SN 1/22) quoted a student referring to last year’s elections where “students were disenfranchised,” and urging “changes and reforms so that what happened to me wouldn’t happen to anyone else.”

The rest of the article detailed state Sen. Dianne Byrum’s support for a petition drive to overturn Senate bill 173, the bill ending straight-party voting. Byrum apparently had the gall to tell students that carrying these petitions would achieve election reform. Undoubtedly, Byrum said nothing about what the petitions would actually do.

Under Michigan’s constitution, if enough signatures are gathered to force a referendum on a bill, the bill will not go into effect unless approved by the voters. Senate Bill 173, however, is about much more than straight-party voting.

Most importantly, it solves the problems seen at the polls in 2000 by allowing voters who are not listed on the rolls to vote special ballots. It also sets new training requirements for election workers and eliminates an automatic purge of voters who have not voted for five years.

A successful petition drive to overturn this bill would stop these reforms. Those fighting Senate Bill 173 have made a choice to put the straight-party option - which preserves uninformed voting, locks out independent candidates and has been eliminated in most states - ahead of true reform.

If you wish to disenfranchise more students, by all means, sign these petitions. But don’t expect Byrum or the group PRO-VOTERS! to tell you what they’re really doing.

Lance Boldrey
1992 graduate