The Kalamazoo NAACP branch president said she was joking when she told people they could cast their child's absentee ballot.
At a public meeting for the Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy & Action in the Community (ISAAC) on Thursday, Kalamazoo NAACP president Wendy Fields suggested that people whose children did not want to vote could fill out their absentee ballots for them.
“If your kids won't go, do what I do. You — you have them sign the thing for the absent ballot. It comes in, you fill it out, you tell them to sign it, and you mail it," Fields said. "But that's what you do. Because my son just said he's not going. I just got to be honest, it's nothing illegal. You can do that.”
While it is legal to assist someone who needs help filling out their ballot, it is not legal to vote for them.
“The expectation is that that the voter's going to vote their own ballot," Kalamazoo City Clerk Scott Borling said. "That is what they, when they sign their absentee ballot return envelope — that is what they are attesting to, that they mark their ballot.”
Fields said she was kidding when she made the remark and that she did not vote for her son.
“We work hard to make sure that people are getting accurate information, and I would not want in any form or fashion for anybody to think that that's okay or that I meant that seriously," she told WMUK Tuesday.
She said the NAACP will issue a statement to clarify her remarks.
Multiple elected officials attending the meeting, including Kalamazoo County Clerk Meredith Place.
Asked for comment, Place's office issued a statement that did not directly respond to the remarks made by Fields.
"According to the Michigan Election Officials’ Manual, if an absentee voter receives assistance from another person when voting the ballot, the individual who provided the assistance must sign a certificate attesting to their assistance," Place said in the statement.
"The certificate appears on the outside of the ballot return envelope. The certificate must be signed by any person who assists an absentee voter mark his or her ballot including the voter’s spouse, a household member who lives with the voter, an election official or an individual employed as an election assistant."
The statement continued, "If a voter has questions about whether in their circumstance they may receive assistance or assist another individual, I recommend they contact their local city or township clerk who issues their absentee ballot for guidance."
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
