Bill Text: MI SB0419 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Elections; local; election by mail; allow for certain local elections. Amends sec. 726 of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.726) & adds secs. 750a & 750b.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-06-30 - Referred To Committee On Elections And Government Reform [SB0419 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-SB0419-Introduced.html

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE BILL No. 419

 

 

June 30, 2015, Introduced by Senator BIEDA and referred to the Committee on Elections and Government Reform.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled

 

"Michigan election law,"

 

by amending section 726 (MCL 168.726) and by adding sections 750a

 

and 750b.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 726. No ballots A ballot shall not be delivered to an

 

elector by any a person other than 1 of the election inspectors of

 

election and only within the polling place, except as provided in

 

this act for absent voters' voter ballots and election by mail

 

ballots.

 

     Sec. 750a. (1) Subject to this section and section 750b, a

 

city, village, or township may adopt an ordinance to conduct

 

certain local elections by mail.

 

     (2) If a city, village, or township adopts an ordinance under

 

subsection (1), subject to this section and section 750b, a city,

 

township, or village clerk may conduct a local election by mail in

 

the city, township, or village, under the supervision of the

 

secretary of state.

 

     (3) The August primary held under section 534, the general

 

November election, any other election in which a candidate for

 

statewide office is nominated or elected, and any other election

 

that contains a statewide ballot question shall not be conducted as

 

an election by mail.

 

     (4) The city, township, or village clerk shall advise the

 

governing body of the city, township, or village for which the

 

clerk is the election official as to each local election held in

 

that city, township, or village that will be conducted as an

 

election by mail.

 

     (5) The secretary of state shall promulgate rules in the

 

manner prescribed in this act to provide procedures for conducting

 

an election by mail.

 

     Sec. 750b. (1) A city, township, or village clerk who conducts

 

an election by mail under section 750a shall conduct the election

 

by mail as provided in this section.

 

     (2) The clerk shall designate 1 or more places of deposit in

 

the city, township, or village for electors to return voted ballots

 

for the election by mail. The clerk shall provide that the places

 

designated for the deposit of voted ballots in the city, township,

 

or village be open on the date of the election for a period of 13

 

hours or more, beginning no later than 7 a.m. and ending no earlier

 

than 8 p.m., as determined by the clerk.

 

     (3) The city, township, or village clerk shall send by

 

nonforwardable mail an official ballot with a pre-addressed,

 

postage paid return identification envelope and a secrecy envelope

 

to each elector who is registered in the city, township, or village

 

as of the thirtieth day before the date of the election by mail.

 

The clerk shall address the ballot to the registered elector as

 

that voter's name appears on the registration records of that

 

voter. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (8), the clerk

 

shall mail the official ballots and envelopes during the period

 

beginning on the twentieth day before the date of the election by

 

mail and ending on the fourteenth day before the date of the

 

election by mail.

 

     (4) For a primary election, the election by mail ballot shall

 

contain a section for the selection of candidates from each

 

political party that is participating in the primary election. The

 

instructions accompanying the primary election by mail ballots

 

shall state clearly that the elector may vote for the appropriate

 

number of candidates of 1 party only and that a primary ballot on

 

which candidates from more than 1 party are selected will not be

 

counted.

 

     (5) For an elector who has applied to register to vote on or

 

before the close of registration and is not listed in the

 

registration records of the city, township, or village, the city,

 

township, or village clerk shall proceed in the same manner as

 

prescribed in section 523a for an individual who appears at a

 

polling place on election day. If the elector meets the

 

requirements of section 523a, the clerk shall make the regular or

 

provisional official ballot, the return identification envelope,

 

and the secrecy envelope available at the clerk's office or other

 

place designated by the clerk. The elector who receives the

 

official ballot and envelopes under this subsection shall do all of

 

the following:

 

     (a) Vote at the election in the clerk's office or other place

 

designated by the clerk or vote by mail.

 

     (b) Mark the ballot, sign the return identification envelope,

 

and comply with the instructions provided with the ballot.

 

     (c) Return the ballot in the return identification envelope to

 

the clerk.

 

     (6) A ballot or ballot label used in an election by mail shall

 

contain the following warning:

 

     "A person who, by use of force or other means, unduly

 

influences an elector to vote in a particular manner or to refrain

 

from voting is subject to imprisonment or to a fine, or both.".

 

     (7) To vote an election by mail ballot received under

 

subsection (3), a registered elector shall mark the ballot, sign

 

the return identification envelope supplied with the ballot, and

 

comply with the instructions provided with the ballot. The elector

 

may return the marked ballot to the appropriate city, township, or

 

village clerk by depositing it in the United States mail or with

 

another public postal service, express mail service, parcel post

 

service, or common carrier. The elector may return the marked

 

ballot to the appropriate city, township, or village clerk by

 

depositing it at the office of the clerk or other place of deposit

 

designated by the clerk. The elector shall return the ballot in the

 

return identification envelope supplied with the ballot or the

 

ballot will not be counted. An election by mail ballot must be

 

received at the office of the appropriate clerk or other place of

 

deposit designated by the clerk not later than the end of the

 

period determined under subsection (2) on the date of the election.

 

     (8) An elector may obtain a replacement election by mail

 

ballot if the ballot is destroyed, spoiled, lost, or not received

 

by the elector. An elector who seeks a replacement ballot shall

 

sign a sworn statement that the ballot was destroyed, spoiled,

 

lost, or not received by the elector and submit the statement to

 

the appropriate clerk before the end of the period determined under

 

subsection (2). The clerk shall keep a record of each replacement

 

election by mail ballot provided under this subsection. The clerk

 

shall designate the clerk's office or a central location in the

 

city, township, or village in which the election is held as the

 

single place to obtain a replacement election by mail ballot under

 

this subsection. A clerk may mail replacement ballots 5 days or

 

more before the date of the election by mail. The clerk may deliver

 

in person to a registered elector a replacement ballot up until and

 

including the date of the election by mail.

 

     (9) Election officials shall count an election by mail ballot

 

only if that ballot meets all of the following requirements:

 

     (a) The ballot is returned in the return identification

 

envelope.

 

     (b) The return identification envelope is signed by the

 

elector to whom the ballot was issued.

 

     (c) The signature is verified as provided in subsection (10).

 

     (10) The city, township, or village clerk shall verify the

 

signature of each elector on the return identification envelope

 

with the signature of the elector on the elector's voter

 

registration card, according to the procedures prescribed in this

 

act and rules promulgated by the secretary of state.

 

     (11) If the clerk or other election official determines that

 

an elector to whom a replacement election by mail ballot has been

 

issued has voted more than once, an election official shall not

 

count any ballot cast by that elector. A clerk or other election

 

official who becomes aware of an individual who votes or attempts

 

to vote by means of both an original ballot and a replacement

 

ballot shall report that information to the prosecuting attorney

 

for that county and to the secretary of state.

 

     (12) An election by mail ballot or an elector casting a ballot

 

at an election by mail, or both, is subject to challenge as

 

prescribed in this act.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.