A group supporting a proposed amendment to the Michigan constitution has been collecting signatures in downtown Marquette.
Promote the Vote aims to protect the right to vote in Michigan while introducing legislation to make voting easier for residents.
The amendment would recognize the right to vote without harassment as well as require nine days of early in-person voting.
All overseas and military ballots would be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day under the proposed amendment.
Organizers need 425,000 signatures by the end of June in order to get the initiative on the ballot.
Local volunteers say the proposed amendment would help voters who are unable to get to the ballots due to work or physical limitations.
“I worked for 25 years as a nurse, and I could not always get election day off to vote,” said Ruth Ziel, volunteer and former nurse. “I did not get time off to vote and part of the reason was because I was mandated to stay over for overtime, which meant I couldn’t come in beforehand to vote because I had to be here when the polls opened, and I couldn’t get back to my voting precinct in time to cast a ballot.”