vetoed Archives

Republican Governor Rejects Voter ID Laws in Michigan

Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan surprised his fellow Republicans on Tuesday, refusing to sign two bills that would have required voters to show photo identification before obtaining an absentee ballot. The vetoes are an election-year rarity for the party, which has pressed for tougher voter identification laws nationwide.

They were passed by lawmakers two weeks ago. “These reforms will make a good election system even better by adding appropriate safeguards and improving transparency,” Mr. Snyder said. He said the vetoed bills “could create voter confusion among absentee voters.”

Sara Wurfel, a spokeswoman for the governor, said that confusion had to do with a part of the bills that would have made voters check a citizenship box before receiving a ballot. Mr. Snyder suggested that verification of a person’s citizenship should be done only once, when a voter is first registered, she said.

Jan Brewer Kills Birther Bill In Arizona

We didn’t think she had it in her. But today, Jan Brewer vetoed a bill passed by both the Arizona Senate and House, and would have required all Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates to prove they are United States citizens.

The bill, which was sponsored in part and written to appease the Birther movement, would have appointed a person to determine the eligibility of presidential candidates, based on nothing else but their birth certificate and if that wasn’t available, their circumcision certificate (for males only, of course. Don’t ask what proof they’re asking of women).

“I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions,” Ms Brewer said in a statement.

For some reason, and we’re not quite sure what that reason is – *wink wink* – birth certificates or questioning whether or not a president was born in this country, was never an issue with previous presidents. Something about President Obama – and we haven’t quite put our finger on it – has triggered an entire movement, now led by presidential hopeful Donald Trump, requesting this particular president comply with their demands.

“I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their ‘early baptismal circumcision certificates’ among other records to the Arizona secretary of state,” Ms Brewer said.

I guess knowing what the presidential candidate’s penis looked like was not an appealing thought for Mrs. Brewer. Too bad her fellow Republicans felt otherwise in the vetoed bill.