Health Experts Join VoteSafe Michigan in Favor of Expanding Safe Voting Options in August and November

June 17, 2020

MICHIGAN – Today, VoteSafe Michigan announced that leading health care experts have joined its coalition to ensure that all Michigan voters have safe voting options in the August and November elections.

“As a physician, I’m glad to see other medical experts lending their voice to this effort. It is a serious public health issue that warrants more attention,” said former Michigan Republican Congressman and physician Joe Schwarz. “COVID-19 doesn’t care about your party or who you’re voting for, and neither does VoteSafe Michigan. We think voters should be able to exercise their right to vote without putting their health at risk.”

Schwarz and Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are leaders within VoteSafe Michigan, a bipartisan coalition announced in May. Healthcare experts who have joined the coalition to date include:

• Mona Hanna-Attisha, M.D., MPH, founder and Director of the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative
• Jim Haveman, former Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health
• S. Bobby Mukkamala, M.D., private practice physician, Flint
• Janet Olszewski, former Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health
• Mark Schweitzer, M.D., Dean of Wayne State University School of Medicine
• Marianne Udow-Phillips, founding Executive Director of the Center for Health and Research Transformation at the University of Michigan
• Rajkumari “Raj” Wiener, former Director of the Michigan Department of Public Health

VoteSafe Michigan is made up of voting experts, elected officials, health care professionals, and community leaders advocating for accessible, secure mail-in ballots and safe, in-person voting sites amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A full list of endorsers is available online.

The coalition is committed to raising awareness among residents of all their voting options allowed under the Michigan constitution. In 2018, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 3 which expanded voting options in Michigan to include automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration and no-excuse absentee voting.