HOUSE BILL No. 4712 April 29, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Hammerstrom, Brackenridge, Perricone, Kaza, McNutt, Dalman, Voorhees, Birkholz, Scranton, Goschka, Gilmer, Brater and Rhead and referred to the Committee on Local Government. A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled "Michigan election law," by amending sections 674 and 677 (MCL 168.674 and 168.677), section 674 as amended by 1996 PA 207 and section 677 as amended by 1996 PA 583. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 674. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to 2 the contrary and subject to this section, the city and township 3 board of election commissioners and the village board of election 4 commissioners for village elections only, at least 21 days but 5 not more than 40 days before each election, but in no case less 6 than 5 days before the date set for holding schools of instruc- 7 tion, shall appoint for each election precinct at least 3 8 election inspectors and as many more as in its opinion is 9 required for the efficient, speedy, and proper conduct of the 02231'97 KKR 2 1 election. The board of election commissioners may appoint as 2 election inspector an individual on the list submitted by a major 3 political party under section 673a who is qualified to serve 4 under section 677. An appointment of an election inspector under 5 this section is void if a properly completed application for that 6 election inspector is not on file in the clerk's office as pre- 7 scribed in section 677. 8 (2) The board of election commissioners shall designate 1 9 appointed election inspector as chairperson. The board of elec- 10 tion commissioners shall appoint at least 1 election inspector 11 from each major political party.andEXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PRO- 12 VIDED IN THIS SUBSECTION, THE BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS 13 shall appoint an equal number, as nearly as possible, of election 14 inspectors in each election precinct from each major political 15 party. The board of election commissioners may appoint election 16 inspectors in an election precinct from minor political parties 17 OR WITH NO POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION. IF A PERSON OR PERSONS 18 WITH MINOR POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION OR NO POLITICAL PARTY 19 AFFILIATION ARE APPOINTED AS PRECINCT INSPECTORS UNDER THIS SUB- 20 SECTION, THE ELECTION COMMISSION SHALL NOT APPOINT MORE THAN 21 33-1/3%, AS NEARLY AS POSSIBLE, OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF INSPECTORS 22 THAT ARE APPOINTED IN EACH ELECTION PRECINCT FROM EACH MAJOR 23 POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION AND THE MINOR OR NO POLITICAL PARTY 24 AFFILIATION. Not later than 2 business days following the 25 appointment of election inspectors under subsection (1) for elec- 26 tions in which a federal or state office appears, the board of 27 election commissioners shall notify by certified mail, personal 02231'97 3 1 service, or electronic transmission capable of determining date 2 of receipt the county chair of each major political party of the 3 names and political party OR NO POLITICAL PARTY affiliations of 4 appointed election inspectors and the precincts to which those 5 inspectors were appointed. A board of election commissioners 6 shall not appoint a person as an election inspector if that 7 person declares a NO POLITICAL PARTY AFFILIATION OR A political 8 partypreference forAFFILIATION WITH 1 political party but is 9 a known active advocate of another political party. As used in 10 this section, "a known active advocate" means a person who meets 11 1 or more of the following: 12 (a) Is a delegate to the convention or an officer of that 13 other party. 14 (b) Is affiliated with that party through an elected or 15 appointed government position. 16 (c) Has made documented public statements specifically sup- 17 porting by name the other political party or its candidates in 18 the same calendar year as the election for which the appointment 19 is being made. As used in this subdivision, "documented public 20 statements" means statements reported by the news media or writ- 21 ten statements with a clear and unambiguous attribution to the 22 applicant. 23 (3) The county chair of a major political party may chal- 24 lenge the appointment of an election inspector based upon the 25 qualifications of the election inspector, the legitimacy of the 26 election inspector's political party OR NO POLITICAL PARTY 27 affiliation, or whether there is a properly completed declaration 02231'97 4 1 of political party OR NO POLITICAL PARTY affiliation in the 2 application for that election inspector on file in the clerk's 3 office. The challenge shall be in writing, specifically identify 4 the reason for the challenge, and include any available documen- 5 tation supporting the challenge. The county chair of the politi- 6 cal party shall file a challenge under this subsection with the 7 board of election commissioners not later than 4 business days 8 following receipt of the board of election commissioners' notice 9 of appointed election inspectors under subsection (2). 10 (4) Upon receipt of a challenge under subsection (3), the 11 board of election commissioners shall determine whether the 12 appointee has the necessary qualifications by reviewing the 13 application or any other official records, such as voter regis- 14 tration records, or whether the applicant has a properly com- 15 pleted certification of political party OR NO POLITICAL PARTY 16 affiliation in the application. If the challenge alleges that 17 the appointee is a known active advocate of a political party 18 other than the one on the appointee's application, IF ANY, the 19 board of election commissioners immediately shall provide the 20 appointee with a copy of the challenge by certified mail, per- 21 sonal service, or electronic transmission capable of determining 22 date of receipt. The appointee may respond to the challenge 23 within 2 business days after receiving a copy of the challenge. 24 A response shall be by affidavit addressing the specific reasons 25 for the challenge. Failure to respond shall result in revocation 26 of the appointment. Within 2 business days after receiving the 27 challenge or a response from the appointee, whichever is later, 02231'97 5 1 the board of election commissioners shall make a final 2 determination and notify the appointee and the county chair of 3 the political party of the determination. 4 (5) If a vacancy occurs in the office of chairperson or in 5 the office of election inspector before election day, the chair- 6 person of the board of election commissioners shall designate 7 some other properly qualified applicant or election inspector as 8 chairperson or some other qualified applicant as election inspec- 9 tor, as applicable, subject to this section. If a vacancy occurs 10 in the office of chairperson on election day, the remaining elec- 11 tion inspectors shall designate 1 of the inspectors as 12 chairperson. 13 Sec. 677. (1) A precinct election inspector shall be a 14 qualified and registered elector of the county in which he or she 15 serves, shall have a good reputation, and shall have sufficient 16 education and clerical ability to perform the duties of the 17 office. A person shall not be appointed to a board of election 18 inspectors unless the person has filed an application with a 19 city, township, or village clerk in that county where the indi- 20 vidual wishes to serve as election inspector. 21 (2) The application shall be in his or her own handwriting 22 and shall contain the applicant's name, home address, ward and 23 precinct registration, date of birth, length of residence in the 24 county, political party affiliation OR A DECLARATION OF NO POLIT- 25 ICAL PARTY AFFILIATION, education, employment, and other 26 experience qualifications. The application shall provide a 27 certification that the applicant is not a member or a known 02231'97 6 1 active advocate, as defined in section 674, of a political party 2 other than the one entered on the application, IF ANY. The form 3 of the application under this section shall be approved by the 4 state director of elections. The clerk shall maintain a file of 5 applications filed under this section and make the applications 6 available for public inspection at the clerk's office during 7 normal business hours. 8 (3) A person shall not be knowingly appointed or permitted 9 to act as a precinct election inspector if the person or any 10 member of his or her immediate family is a candidate for nomina- 11 tion or election to any office at the election or who has been 12 convicted of a felony or election crime. A person shall not be 13 permitted to act as an election inspector if he or she has failed 14 to attend a school of instruction or failed to take an examina- 15 tion as provided in section 683. This section does not prohibit 16 the candidate for or delegate to a political party convention 17 from acting as an election inspector in a precinct other than the 18 precinct in which he or she resides. An election shall not be 19 invalidated merely because of the violation of the provisions of 20 this section. 02231'97 Final page. KKR