Bill Text: MI HB4904 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Chaptered

Michigan House Bill 4904 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Elections; other; date of the statewide presidential primary election as a regular election date; provide for, clarify filing deadlines for candidates for local office and for all local ballot questions, and require the board of state canvassers to canvass certain elections involving regional transit authorities. Amends secs. 641, 646a & 841 of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.641 et seq.).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-12-01 - Assigned Pa 197'15 With Immediate Effect [HB4904 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-HB4904-Chaptered.html

Act No. 197

Public Acts of 2015

Approved by the Governor

November 24, 2015

Filed with the Secretary of State

November 24, 2015

EFFECTIVE DATE: November 24, 2015

STATE OF MICHIGAN

98TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2015

Introduced by Rep. McBroom

ENROLLED HOUSE BILL No. 4904

AN ACT to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled “An act to reorganize, consolidate, and add to the election laws; to provide for election officials and prescribe their powers and duties; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, state agencies, and state and local officials and employees; to provide for the nomination and election of candidates for public office; to provide for the resignation, removal, and recall of certain public officers; to provide for the filling of vacancies in public office; to provide for and regulate primaries and elections; to provide for the purity of elections; to guard against the abuse of the elective franchise; to define violations of this act; to provide appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal certain acts and all other acts inconsistent with this act,” by amending sections 641, 646a, and 841 (MCL 168.641, 168.646a, and 168.841), section 641 as amended by 2015 PA 101, section 646a as amended by 2013 PA 253, and section 841 as amended by 1995 PA 261.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 641. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, an election held under this act shall be held on 1 of the following regular election dates:

(a) The May regular election date, which is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May.

(b) The August regular election date, which is the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August.

(d) In each presidential election year when a statewide presidential primary election is held, the date of the statewide presidential primary election as provided in section 613a.

(2) If an elective office is listed by name in section 643, requiring the election for that office to be held at the general election, and if candidates for the office are nominated at a primary election, the primary election shall be held on the August regular election date.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subsection (4), a special election shall be held on a regular election date. A special election called by the governor under section 145, 178, 632, 633, or 634 to fill a vacancy or called by the legislature to submit a proposed constitutional amendment as authorized in section 1 of article XII of the state constitution of 1963 may, but is not required to be, held on a regular election date.

(4) A school district may call a special election to submit a ballot question to borrow money, increase a millage, or establish a bond if an initiative petition is filed with the county clerk. The petition shall be signed by a number of qualified and registered electors of the district equal to not less than 10% of the electors voting in the last gubernatorial election in that district or 3,000 signatures, whichever number is lesser. Section 488 applies to a petition to call a special election for a school district under this section. In addition to the requirements set forth in section 488, the proposed date of the special election shall appear beneath the petition heading, and the petition shall clearly state the amount of the millage increase or the amount of the loan or bond sought and the purpose for the millage increase or the purpose for the loan or bond. The petition shall be filed with the county clerk by 4 p.m. of the twelfth Tuesday before the proposed date of the special election. The petition signatures shall be obtained within 60 days before the filing of the petition. Any signatures obtained more than 60 days before the filing of the petition are not valid. If the special election called by the school district is not scheduled to be held on a regular election date as provided in subsection (1), the special election shall be held on a Tuesday. A special election called by a school district under this subsection shall not be held within 30 days before or 35 days after a regular election date as provided in subsection (1). A school district may only call 1 special election pursuant to this subsection in each calendar year.

(5) The secretary of state shall direct and supervise the consolidation of all elections held under this act.

(6) This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Hammerstrom election consolidation law”.

Sec. 646a. (1) If a local officer is to be elected at a general November election, candidates for the local office shall be nominated in the manner provided by law or charter, subject to sections 641 and 642. If candidates for the local office are to be nominated at caucuses, the caucuses shall be held on a date before the date set for the primary election or on the Saturday before the day of the primary election as determined by the local legislative body at least 20 days before the date of the caucus. If candidates are nominated by filing petitions or affidavits, they shall be filed at a time provided by charter, but not later than the date of the primary. Except as provided in section 642, the local primary election shall be held on the same day as a state or county primary election. If a state or county primary is being held on the same day, the last day for local candidates to file nominating petitions is the same as the last date to file petitions for state and county offices. The names of all local candidates and titles of office shall be certified to the county clerk by the local clerk within 5 days after the last day for filing petitions, and certification of nominees shall be made to that clerk within 5 days after the date on which the primary or caucus was held.

(2) If a ballot question of a political subdivision of this state including, but not limited to, a county, city, village, township, school district, special use district, or other district is to be voted on at a regular election date or special election, the ballot wording of the ballot question shall be certified to the proper local or county clerk not later than 4 p.m. on the twelfth Tuesday before the election. If the wording is certified to a clerk other than the county clerk, the clerk shall certify the ballot wording to the county clerk at least 82 days before the election. Petitions to place a county or local ballot question on the ballot at the election shall be filed with the clerk at least 14 days before the date the ballot wording must be certified to the local clerk.

(3) The provisions of this section apply to and control the filing deadlines for candidates for local office to be elected at the general November election and for all ballot questions of a political subdivision of this state at any regular election, primary election, or special election notwithstanding any provisions of law or charter to the contrary.

Sec. 841. (1) The board of state canvassers shall canvass the returns and determine the result of all elections for electors of president and vice president of the United States, state officers, United States senators, representatives in congress, circuit judges, state senators and representatives elected by a district that is located in more than 1 county, and other officers as required by law. The board of state canvassers shall also determine the result of an election on a proposed amendment to the constitution or on any other ballot question that has been submitted, pursuant to law, to the qualified and registered electors of this state at large for ratification or rejection. The board of state canvassers shall canvass the returns and determine the result of an election on a ballot question submitted to the qualified and registered electors of more than 1 county under the regional transit authority act, 2012 PA 387, MCL 124.541 to 124.558. Upon making the determination, the board of state canvassers shall immediately prepare a certificate of determination and deliver the properly certified certificate of determination to the secretary of state.

(2) Upon receipt of a properly certified certificate of determination from a board of county canvassers pursuant to section 826, the board of state canvassers, at its next meeting, shall record the results of the county canvass contained in the certificate.

Enacting section 1. Section 646a of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.646a, as amended by this amendatory act is curative and intended to correct any misinterpretation of legislative intent by the Michigan court of appeals in Meridian Charter Township v Ingham County Clerk, 285 Mich App 581 (2009). It is the intent of the legislature that section 646a of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.646a, as amended by this amendatory act expresses the original intent of the legislature that MCL 168.646a(3) supersedes any and all conflicting provisions of law or charter prescribing the filing deadlines for candidates for local office to be elected at the general November election and for all ballot questions of a political subdivision of this state at any regular election, primary election, or special election.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Secretary of the Senate

Approved

Governor