Tagged: ruth johnson

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson says she supports changing the state's current winner-take-all system in presidential elections.

Johnson said Friday during a taping of WKAR-TV's "Off The Record" program that she supports a hybrid of the current system and one that would divide the state's electoral votes proportionally.

Beginning Tuesday, certain undocumented immigrants living in Michigan will be able to get driver's licenses and state IDs.

Earlier this month, Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson reversed her position and said immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and are eligible for temporary federal work permits can get licenses.

Johnson changed her position after the Obama administration clarified that individuals eligible for the permits, called the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, can obtain licenses.

No changes are planned right now to a policy that denies Michigan driver’s licenses to immigrants brought to the U.S. as young children by parents who entered illegally.

That’s despite a federal rules change that says they are in the country legally.

Michigan is one of a handful of states that continues to deny driver’s licenses to these young immigrants.

Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s office said the state’s policy is under review.

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson over her refusal to provide driver’s licenses to some young immigrants.

Last summer, President Obama unveiled the so-called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. It gives undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children authorization to live and work here legally for a two-year period. There are an estimated 15,000 DACA-eligible young people in Michigan.

The ACLU of Michigan is suing Secretary of State Ruth Johnson over her decision to deny driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants with work permits granted under a new federal-deferred action plan.

The suit was brought on behalf of three young immigrants and One Michigan, a youth-led advocacy group.

There are approximately 15,000 young people in Michigan who are eligible for the federal program.

Update 4:19 p.m.

There will be no citizenship checkbox on ballot applications for Michigan voters this November.

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said she won’t challenge a federal judge’s ruling that the citizenship question is unconstitutional because the election is getting so close.

She did say there could be further legal action after the election.

Johnson says she also intends to press the federal government for naturalization records that would help her clear voter rolls of non-citizens.