LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan House has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure that would block foreign contributions to Michigan ballot campaigns and election administration.

The bills, which passed the Republican-led House 97-6 and 99-4 on Thursday, aim to close a loophole in the overlap of state and federal laws, which already prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to political candidates and super political action committees, said state Rep. Rachelle Smit, a Martin Republican who sponsored one of the bills.

"This critical loophole exposes state and local initiatives and referenda to otherwise illegal foreign influence," said Smit, who leads the House Election Integrity Committee. The bill, she argued, would "end foreign influence in our elections and ensure only Michigan voices get to decide our state laws."

The bills move next to the Democratic-led state Senate.

Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson supports the measure, according to her spokeswoman Angela Benander.

While the bills received broadly bipartisan support in the House, a handful of Democrats voted against the measures.

State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, argued existing laws already are sufficient to prevent foreign interference and expressed concern the bills were "designed to stoke distrust in our election system."

"There are already laws in place to ensure foreign nationals cannot influence elections, and these bills are slight modifications on conspiracy theories that were created in 2020 to create doubts in our elections," Pohutsky said.

While Smit's bill would address ballot measures, legislation by state Rep. William Bruck, R-Erie Township, would require any group or individual providing money or services for election administration to certify whether they receive foreign funding.

“This bill takes an important step forward by tightening election administration safeguards and limiting who can fund the election process here in Michigan," Bruck said in a statement.

In committee hearings on Smit's bill last year, the legislation's supporters argued there is some evidence that foreign nationals or groups have contributed to nonprofits that later support ballot initiatives. For example, Caitlin Sutherland, executive director for Americans for Public Trust, argued that Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has contributed to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which later donated money to Michigan ballot initiatives.

Smit's bill would require a ballot committee to obtain from any donor an affirmation that the donor is not a foreign national and that the donor has not knowingly accepted more than $100,000 from foreign nationals in the four years preceding the contribution. Any donation believed to have contained money from foreign nationals must be returned within 30 days, according to the legislation.

Violations would be subject to a fine of up to double the amount of the contribution in question.

A ballot committee also must affirm in its statement of organization that a foreign national did not finance any preliminary activity related to the ballot question. And, in its campaign statements, the committee would need to affirm that it did not knowingly accept money from a foreign national.

The legislation also would prohibit the secretary of state or attorney general, while investigating a claim of foreign contributions, from disclosing the information or identifying other donors to the nonprofit in question.

Under Bruck's bill, any individual or group providing funding or in-kind goods and services for election administration are required to file a signed and dated certification attesting that they have not knowingly received foreign contributions. That certification would need to be submitted to the Secretary of State's office within 10 days before finalization of the agreement and renewed on an annual basis, according to a nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analysis of the bill.

Additionally, under the bill, any government unit in the state that receives election administration support would need to provide a list of those providing the support on a quarterly basis to the Secretary of State's office.

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