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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Senior Advocates: Don't Require Partial Social Security Numbers to Vote

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Wednesday, February 2, 2022   

Advocates for older Michiganders are voicing concerns about a petition that could add barriers to voting and even put a voter's personal information at risk.

The group "Secure MI Vote" is circulating a petition that would require people requesting an absentee ballot to share the last four digits of their Social Security or drivers' license number. It's a way to get around needing the governor's signature on legislation, since Michigan law says a petition can override a veto if it gets enough signatures from the public, but Paula Cunningham, AARP Michigan state director, said it's important, especially for seniors, not to give out that kind of personal information.

"If you look at the data and look at the numbers, they will see that identity theft is some of the number one crimes that exist today, and it is certainly on the uptick in Michigan," she said. "Who gets the most victimized by identity theft and fraud? Older adults."

The ballot measure's proponents have said requiring more personal information would make voting more secure, but Cunningham noted that audits of the 2020 election - including by the Republican-controlled Michigan Senate - found no evidence of widespread fraud under the current rules.

Cunningham added that more than 60% of the 3.3 million absentee votes cast in 2020 in Michigan were by people age 50 or older.

"The legislators, those are the influencers who will finally make this decision," she said. "So, contact them and tell them to vote 'no' on any proposal that creates new barriers to for absentee voting, and increases someone's risk of identity theft."

Last month, the U.S. Senate blocked a pair of federal voting-rights bills -- the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act -- that would have expanded nationwide access to absentee voting, among other changes to the election code. Voting-rights advocates have said the lack of federal action is disappointing, but won't stop their efforts to change laws at the local level, and to educate and register voters.


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The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

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Social Issues

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Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

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New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

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Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

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