Bill Text: MI SB0071 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Elections: voting procedures; provisions in the Michigan election law regarding individuals in the address confidentiality program; provide for. Amends secs. 509q, 759 & 761 of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.509q et seq.) & adds secs. 499b & 735a. TIE BAR WITH: SB 0070'19
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-4)
Status: (Passed) 2020-12-30 - Assigned Pa 0302'20 With Immediate Effect [SB0071 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-SB0071-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 71
January 29, 2019, Introduced by Senators BARRETT, JOHNSON, HOLLIER, IRWIN, CHANG, WOJNO, THEIS, POLEHANKI, MCMORROW, MOSS, BAYER and DALEY and referred to the Committee on Elections.
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending sections 509q, 758, 759, and 761 (MCL 168.509q,
168.758, 168.759, and 168.761), section 509q as amended by 2012
PA 586, section 758 as amended by 1996 PA 207, section 759 as
amended by 2012 PA 523, and section 761 as amended by 2018 PA
129, and by adding sections 499b and 735a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 499b. The voter registration application of an elector
2 who is a program participant, as that term is defined in the
3 address confidentiality program act, is confidential and not
4 subject to disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976
5 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
1 Sec. 509q. (1) The Subject
to subsection (2), the qualified
2 voter file shall must
contain all of the following
information
3 for each qualified voter:
4 (a) The name; residence address including house number and
5 street name or rural route and box number, and the apartment
6 number, if any; city; state; zip code; and date of birth.
7 (b) The driver's driver
license number or state personal
8 identification card number or similar number issued by a
9 designated voter registration agency.
10 (c) Jurisdictional information including county and city or
11 township; village, if any; metropolitan district, if any; and
12 school district.
13 (d) Precinct numbers and ward numbers, if any.
14 (e) Any other information that the secretary of state
15 determines is necessary to assess the eligibility of qualified
16 electors or to administer voter registration or other aspects of
17 the election process.
18 (f) Voting history for a 5-year period.
19 (g) The most recent digitized signature of an elector if
20 captured or reproduced by the secretary of state or a county,
21 city, or township clerk from a voter registration application
22 pursuant to under section 509hh, or captured or reproduced by the
23 secretary of state pursuant to under section 307 of the
Michigan
24 vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.307.
25 (2) If a qualified voter is a program participant, as that
26 term is defined in the address confidentiality program act, the
27 qualified voter file must also contain the program participant's
1 unique identification number issued by the department of the
2 attorney general.
3 (3) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, if a
4 qualified voter is a program participant, as that term is defined
5 in the address confidentiality program act, the information
6 contained in the qualified voter file for that program
7 participant, including his or her unique identification number
8 issued by the department of the attorney general, is confidential
9 and not subject to disclosure under the freedom of information
10 act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. The information contained
11 in the qualified voter file for a program participant, as that
12 term is defined in the address confidentiality program act, may
13 be used by an election official during the normal course of his
14 or her duties as an election official.
15 Sec. 735a. For a program participant, as that term is
16 defined in the address confidentiality program act, any poll list
17 or poll book created for or used at an election must only contain
18 the name of that program participant and a notation for the
19 precinct election inspectors to contact the city or township
20 clerk on how to process the elector who is a program participant.
21 Sec. 758. (1) For the purposes of this act, "absent voter"
22 means a qualified and registered elector who meets 1 or more of
23 the following requirements:
24 (a) On account of physical disability, cannot without
25 another's assistance attend the polls on the day of an election.
26 (b) On account of the tenets of his or her religion, cannot
27 attend the polls on the day of an election.
1 (c) Cannot attend the polls on the day of an election in the
2 precinct in which he or she resides because of being an election
3 precinct inspector in another precinct.
4 (d) Is 60 years of age or older.
5 (e) Is absent or expects to be absent from the township or
6 city in which he or she resides during the entire period the
7 polls are open for voting on the day of an election.
8 (f) Cannot attend the polls on election day because of being
9 confined in jail awaiting arraignment or trial.
10 (g) Is a program participant in the address confidentiality
11 program and provides his or her program participant
12 identification number.
13 (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who has moved
14 outside of this state, regardless of length of his or her
15 residence outside of this state, and who no longer maintains an
16 actual residence in this state. The storage of personal effects
17 or household goods, the ownership of property that is rented or
18 leased to others, or occasional brief visits to a former domicile
19 in this state while residing outside of this state for most of
20 the year does not constitute a residence for voting purposes in
21 this state, except for each of the following:
22 (a) A person described in section 1 of article II of the
23 state constitution of 1963 and statutes enacted under that
24 section.
25 (b) A person described in section 759a.
26 (3) If a qualified elector is a program participant, as that
27 term is defined in the address confidentiality program act, then
1 that qualified elector shall only vote an absent voter ballot
2 while he or she is a program participant.
3 Sec. 759. (1) At any time during the 75 days before a
4 primary or special primary, but not later than 2 p.m. of the
5 Saturday immediately before the primary or special primary, an
6 elector who qualifies to vote as an absent voter, as defined in
7 section 758, may apply for an absent voter ballot. The elector
8 shall apply in person or by mail with the clerk of the township,
9 city, or village in which the elector is registered. An
10 application received before a primary or special primary may be
11 for either that primary only, or for that primary and the
12 election that follows.
13 (2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (1), at
14 anytime any time during the 75 days before an election, but not
15 later than 2 p.m. of the Saturday before the election, an elector
16 who qualifies to vote as an absent voter, as defined in section
17 758, may apply for an absent voter ballot. The elector shall
18 apply in person or by mail with the clerk of the township, city,
19 or village in which the voter is registered.
20 (3) An application for an absent voter ballot under this
21 section may be made in any of the following ways:
22 (a) By a written request signed by the voter stating the
23 statutory grounds for making the application.
24 (b) On an absent voter ballot application form provided for
25 that purpose by the clerk of the city, township, or village.
26 (c) On a federal postcard application.
27 (4) An applicant for an absent voter ballot shall sign the
1 application. A clerk or assistant clerk shall not deliver an
2 absent voter ballot to an applicant who does not sign the
3 application. A person shall not be in possession of a signed
4 absent voter ballot application except for the applicant; a
5 member of the applicant's immediate family; a person residing in
6 the applicant's household; a person whose job normally includes
7 the handling of mail, but only during the course of his or her
8 employment; a registered elector requested by the applicant to
9 return the application; or a clerk, assistant of the clerk, or
10 other authorized election official. A registered elector who is
11 requested by the applicant to return his or her absent voter
12 ballot application shall sign the certificate on the absent voter
13 ballot application.
14 (5) The clerk of a city, township, or village shall have
15 absent voter ballot application forms available in the clerk's
16 office at all times and shall furnish an absent voter ballot
17 application form to anyone upon a verbal or written request. The
18 absent voter ballot application shall must be
in substantially
19 the following form:
20 "Application for absent voter ballot for:
21 [ ] The primary or special primary election to be held on
22 ___________________ (Date).
23 [ ] The election to be held on _______ (Date).
24 (Check applicable election or elections)
25 I, .................................. , a United States
26 citizen and a qualified and registered elector of the
27 ............ precinct of the township of ............ or village
1 of ............ or of the ............ ward of the city of
2 .................................. , in the county of
3 .................................. and state of Michigan, apply
4 for an official ballot, or ballots, to be voted by me at the
5 election or elections as requested in this application.
6 The statutory grounds on which I base my request are:
7 [ ] I expect to be absent from the community in which I am
8 registered for the entire time the polls are open on election
9 day.
10 [ ] I am physically unable to attend the polls without the
11 assistance of another.
12 [ ] I cannot attend the polls because of the tenets of my
13 religion.
14 [ ] I have been appointed an election precinct inspector in
15 a precinct other than the precinct where I reside.
16 [ ] I am 60 years of age or older.
17 [ ] I cannot attend the polls because I am confined to jail
18 awaiting arraignment or trial.
19 [ ] I am a program participant in the address
20 confidentiality program and I am providing my program participant
21 identification number.
22 (Check applicable reason)
|
23 |
Send absent voter ballot to me at: |
|
24 |
........................................... |
|
25 |
(Street No. or R.R. or Designated Address) |
|
26 |
........................................... |
|
1 |
(Post Office) (State) (Zip Code) |
|
2 |
My registered address ....................................... |
|
3 |
(Street No. or R.R. or Program Participant Identification Number) |
|
4 |
....................................... |
|
5 |
(Post Office) (State) (Zip Code) |
|
6 |
Date......................................................... |
|
7 |
I certify that I am a United States citizen and that |
|
8 |
the statements in this absent voter ballot application |
|
9 |
are true. |
|
10 |
....................................... |
|
11 |
(Signature) |
|
12 |
WARNING |
13 You must be a United States citizen to vote. If you are not
14 a United States citizen, you will not be issued an absent voter
15 ballot.
16 A person making a false statement in this absent voter
17 ballot application is guilty of a misdemeanor. It is a violation
18 of Michigan election law for a person other than those listed in
19 the instructions to return, offer to return, agree to return, or
20 solicit to return your absent voter ballot application to the
21 clerk. An assistant authorized by the clerk who receives absent
22 voter ballot applications at a location other than the clerk's
23 office must have credentials signed by the clerk. Ask to see his
24 or her credentials before entrusting your application with a
25 person claiming to have the clerk's authorization to return your
26 application.
|
1 |
Certificate of Authorized Registered |
|
2 |
Elector Returning Absent Voter |
|
3 |
Ballot Application |
4 I certify that my name is .................... , my address
5 is .................... , and my date of birth is ............ ;
6 that I am delivering the absent voter ballot application of
7 .................... at his or her request; that I did not
8 solicit or request to return the application; that I have not
9 made any markings on the application; that I have not altered the
10 application in any way; that I have not influenced the applicant;
11 and that I am aware that a false statement in this certificate is
12 a violation of Michigan election law.
|
13 |
_____________ __________________________________ |
|
14 |
(Date) (Signature)" |
15 (6) The following instructions for an applicant for an
16 absent voter ballot shall must be included with each
application
17 furnished an applicant:
|
18 |
INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICANTS FOR ABSENT VOTER BALLOTS |
19 Step 1. After completely filling out the application, sign
20 and date the application in the place designated. Your signature
21 must appear on the application or you will not receive an absent
22 voter ballot.
23 Step 2. Deliver the application by 1 of the following
24 methods:
1 (a) Place the application in an envelope addressed to the
2 appropriate clerk and place the necessary postage upon the return
3 envelope and deposit it in the United States mail or with another
4 public postal service, express mail service, parcel post service,
5 or common carrier.
6 (b) Deliver the application personally to the clerk's
7 office, to the clerk, or to an authorized assistant of the clerk.
8 (c) In either (a) or (b), a member of the immediate family
9 of the voter including a father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-
10 in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent,
11 or grandchild or a person residing in the voter's household may
12 mail or deliver the application to the clerk for the applicant.
13 (d) If an applicant cannot return the application in any of
14 the above methods, the applicant may select any registered
15 elector to return the application. The person returning the
16 application must sign and return the certificate at the bottom of
17 the application.
18 (7) A person who prints and distributes absent voter ballot
19 applications shall print on the application the warning,
20 certificate of authorized registered elector returning absent
21 voter ballot application, and instructions required by this
22 section.
23 (8) A person who makes a false statement in an absent voter
24 ballot application is guilty of a misdemeanor. A person who
25 forges a signature on an absent voter ballot application is
26 guilty of a felony. A person who is not authorized in this act
27 and who both distributes absent voter ballot applications to
1 absent voters and returns those absent voter ballot applications
2 to a clerk or assistant of the clerk is guilty of a misdemeanor.
3 (9) The absent voter ballot application of an elector who is
4 a program participant, as that term is defined in the address
5 confidentiality program act, is confidential and not subject to
6 disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
7 15.231 to 15.246.
8 Sec. 761. (1) If the clerk of a city, township, or village
9 receives an application for an absent voter ballot from a person
10 registered to vote in that city, township, or village and if the
11 signature on the application agrees with the signature for the
12 person contained in the qualified voter file or on the
13 registration card as required in subsection (2), the clerk
14 immediately upon receipt of the application or, if the
15 application is received before the printing of the absent voter
16 ballots, as soon as the ballots are received by the clerk, shall
17 forward by mail, postage prepaid, or shall deliver personally 1
18 of the ballots or set of ballots if there is more than 1 kind of
19 ballot to be voted to the applicant. If the clerk of a city or
20 township receives an application for an absent voter ballot from
21 an applicant who is a program participant, as that term is
22 defined in the address confidentiality program act, then the city
23 or township clerk shall mail an absent voter ballot to that
24 program participant at the designated address provided to that
25 program participant by the department of the attorney general
26 under the address confidentiality program act. Subject to the
27 identification requirement in subsection (6), absent voter
1 ballots may be delivered to an applicant in person at the office
2 of the clerk.
3 (2) The qualified voter file must be used to determine the
4 genuineness of a signature on an application for an absent voter
5 ballot. Signature comparisons must be made with the digitized
6 signature in the qualified voter file. If the qualified voter
7 file does not contain a digitized signature of an elector, or is
8 not accessible to the clerk, the city or township clerk shall
9 compare the signature appearing on the application for an absent
10 voter ballot to the signature contained on the master card.
11 (3) Notwithstanding section 759, providing that no absent
12 voter applications shall be received by the clerk after 2 p.m. on
13 the Saturday before the election, and subject to the
14 identification requirement in subsection (6), a person qualified
15 to vote as an absent voter may apply in person at the clerk's
16 office before 4 p.m. on a day before the election except Sunday
17 or a legal holiday to vote as an absent voter. The applicant
18 shall receive his or her absent voter ballot and vote the ballot
19 in the clerk's office. All other absent voter ballots, except
20 ballots delivered pursuant to an emergency absent voter ballot
21 application under section 759b, must be mailed or delivered to
22 the registration address of the applicant unless the application
23 requests delivery to an address outside the city, village, or
24 township or to a hospital or similar institution, in which case
25 the absent voter ballots must be mailed or delivered to the
26 address given in the application. However, a clerk may mail or
27 deliver an absent voter ballot, upon request of the absent voter,
1 to a post office box if the post office box is where the absent
2 voter normally receives personal mail and the absent voter does
3 not receive mail at his or her registration address.
4 (4) Absent voter ballots must be issued in the same order in
5 which applications are received by the clerk of a city, township,
6 or village, as nearly as may be, and each ballot issued must bear
7 the lowest number of each kind available for this purpose.
8 However, this provision does not prohibit a clerk from
9 immediately issuing an absent voter ballot to an absent voter who
10 applies in person in the clerk's office for absent voter ballots.
11 The clerk shall enclose with the ballot or ballots a return
12 envelope properly addressed to the clerk and bearing upon the
13 back of the envelope a printed statement in substantially the
14 following form:
|
15 |
TO BE COMPLETED |
|
16 |
BY THE CLERK |
|
17 |
______________________________ ____________________________ |
|
18 |
Name of Voter Street Address or R.R. |
|
19 |
or Program Participant |
|
20 |
Identification Number |
|
21 |
______________________________ ____________________________ |
|
22 |
City, Township or Village County |
|
23 |
Ward ________ Precinct _______ Date of Election _____________ |
|
24 |
================================================================= |
|
25 |
TO BE COMPLETED BY THE ABSENT VOTER |
26 I assert that I am a United States citizen and a qualified
1 and registered elector of the city, township, or village named
2 above. I am voting as an absent voter in conformity with state
3 election law. Unless otherwise indicated below, I personally
4 marked the ballot enclosed in this envelope without exhibiting it
5 to any other person.
6 I further assert that this absent voter ballot is being
7 returned to the clerk or an assistant of the clerk by me
8 personally; by public postal service, express mail service,
9 parcel post service, or other common carrier; by a member of my
10 immediate family; or by a person residing in my household.
|
11 |
DATE: ______________ SIGN HERE: X_________________________ |
|
12 |
Signature of Absent Voter |
|
13 |
The above form must be signed or your vote will not be counted. |
|
14 |
AN ABSENT VOTER WHO KNOWINGLY MAKES A FALSE STATEMENT IS GUILTY |
|
15 |
OF A MISDEMEANOR. |
|
16 |
================================================================= |
|
17 |
TO BE COMPLETED ONLY IF VOTER IS ASSISTED IN VOTING |
|
18 |
BY ANOTHER PERSON |
19 I assisted the above named absent voter who is disabled or
20 otherwise unable to mark the ballot in marking his or her absent
21 voter ballot pursuant to his or her directions. The absent voter
22 ballot was inserted in the return envelope without being
23 exhibited to any other person.
|
24 |
_______________________ __________________ ___________________ |
|
25 |
Signature of Person Street Address City, Twp., or |
|
26 |
Assisting Voter or R.R. Village |
|
1 |
_________________________________________________________________ |
|
2 |
Printed Name of Person Assisting Voter |
|
3 |
A PERSON WHO ASSISTS AN ABSENT VOTER AND WHO KNOWINGLY MAKES A |
|
4 |
FALSE STATEMENT IS GUILTY OF A FELONY. |
|
5 |
================================================================= |
|
6 |
WARNING |
7 PERSONS WHO CAN LEGALLY BE IN POSSESSION OF AN ABSENT VOTER
8 BALLOT ISSUED TO AN ABSENT VOTER ARE LIMITED TO THE ABSENT VOTER;
9 A PERSON WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE ABSENT VOTER'S IMMEDIATE FAMILY
10 OR RESIDES IN THE ABSENT VOTER'S HOUSEHOLD AND WHO HAS BEEN ASKED
11 BY THE ABSENT VOTER TO RETURN THE BALLOT; A PERSON WHOSE JOB IT
12 IS TO HANDLE MAIL BEFORE, DURING, OR AFTER BEING TRANSPORTED BY A
13 PUBLIC POSTAL SERVICE, EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE, PARCEL POST SERVICE,
14 OR COMMON CARRIER, BUT ONLY DURING THE NORMAL COURSE OF HIS OR
15 HER EMPLOYMENT; AND THE CLERK, ASSISTANTS OF THE CLERK, AND OTHER
16 AUTHORIZED ELECTION OFFICIALS OF THE CITY, TOWNSHIP, VILLAGE, OR
17 SCHOOL DISTRICT. ANY OTHER PERSON IN POSSESSION OF AN ABSENT
18 VOTER BALLOT IS GUILTY OF A FELONY.
19 (5) An absent voter who knowingly makes a false statement on
20 the absent voter ballot return envelope is guilty of a
21 misdemeanor. A person who assists an absent voter and who
22 knowingly makes a false statement on the absent voter ballot
23 return envelope is guilty of a felony.
24 (6) If an elector obtains his or her absent voter ballot in
25 person from the clerk of the city, township, or village in which
26 he or she is registered, the clerk of the city, township, or
27 village shall not provide an absent voter ballot to that elector
1 until the elector identifies himself or herself to the clerk by
2 presenting identification for election purposes. If an elector
3 does not have identification for election purposes, the elector
4 may sign an affidavit to that effect before the clerk of the
5 city, township, or village and be allowed to obtain his or her
6 absent voter ballot in person from the clerk. The clerk of the
7 city, village, or township shall indicate to each elector who is
8 registered in that city, village, or township and who obtains his
9 or her absent voter ballot in person from the clerk that the
10 elector may sign an affidavit indicating that the elector does
11 not have identification for election purposes in order to obtain
12 his or her absent voter ballot in person from the clerk. However,
13 if an elector obtains his or her absent voter ballot in person
14 from the clerk and votes by absent voter ballot without providing
15 identification for election purposes required under this
16 subsection, the absent voter ballot of that elector must be
17 prepared as a challenged ballot as provided in section 727 and
18 must be counted as any other ballot is counted unless determined
19 otherwise by a court of law under section 747 or 748 or any other
20 applicable law.
21 Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 180
22 days after the date it is enacted into law.
23 Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect
24 unless Senate Bill No. 70
25 of the 100th Legislature is enacted into law.
