HOUSE BILL No. 5139 November 30, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Kukuk, LaSata, Ruth Johnson, Gosselin, Pappageorge, Middaugh, Tabor, DeVuyst, Ehardt, Mortimer, Patterson, Koetje, Shackleton, Hager, Voorhees, Faunce, Caul, Cameron Brown, Toy, DeHart and Raczkowski and referred to the Committee on Constitutional Law and Ethics. A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled "Michigan election law," by amending sections 14a, 24j, 666a, 669, 805, and 871 (MCL 168.14a, 168.24j, 168.666a, 168.669, 168.805, and 168.871), sec- tions 14a and 805 as amended by 1995 PA 261 and section 871 as amended by 1996 PA 583. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 14a. As used in this act:, "metal2 (A) "BALLOT CONTAINER" MEANS A CONTAINER MADE OF METAL, 3 PLASTIC, FIBERGLASS, OR OTHER MATERIAL THAT PROVIDES RESISTANCE 4 TO TAMPERING USED FOR TRANSPORTING AND STORING VOTED BALLOT CARDS 5 AND THAT IS CAPABLE OF BEING SEALED WITH A METAL SEAL. A BALLOT 6 CONTAINER INCLUDES A BALLOT BOX, A TRANSFER CASE, OR OTHER 7 CONTAINER USED TO SECURE BALLOTS, INCLUDING OPTICAL SCAN BALLOTS 8 AND ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS AND DATA. 03965'99 CAS 2 1 (B) "METAL seal" or "seal" means a seal of high tensile 2 strength that is approved by the secretary of statepursuant to3 UNDER section 36. 4 Sec. 24j. Before June 1 of 2002, AND every fourth year,5beginning in 1970THEREAFTER, a county board of canvassers shall 6 examinethe ballot boxesEACH BALLOT BOX AND OTHER BALLOT 7 CONTAINER to be used inanyAN election conducted underthe8provisions ofthis act. The board shall designate on the ballot 9 box OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER that the BALLOT box OR OTHER BALLOT 10 CONTAINER does or does not meet the specifications required by 11 this act. A ballot boxwhichOR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER THAT 12 has not been approved by the board shall not be used to store 13 voted ballots. Aclerk of acity, village, or township CLERK 14 may procure, at the expense of the unit of government using the15same, a sufficient number of properballot boxesto meet the16requirements of this actAND OTHER BALLOT CONTAINERS AS PROVIDED 17 IN SECTION 669. A clerk who uses or permits the use ofanyA 18 ballot boxwhich has been disapprovedOR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER 19 THAT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED is guilty of a misdemeanor. 20 Sec. 666a. In addition to the supplies furnished under 21 section 666, the secretary of state shall furnish totheEACH 22 county clerkof each countydevices, which, when used with23self-sealing metal seals, willTO enable ballot boxes OR OTHER 24 BALLOT CONTAINERS to be sealed easily and securely WITH 25 SELF-SEALING METAL SEALS. 26 Sec. 669.At anyFOR A federal, state, district, or 27 county primary or election,the various city and township03965'99 3 1boardsA CITY, TOWNSHIP, OR VILLAGE BOARD of election 2 commissioners shallfurnishPROVIDE, at the expense oftheir3 THE respectivecities and townshipsCITY, TOWNSHIP, OR VILLAGE, 4 EACH OF the following: 5 (a)There shall be provided and kept by the township clerk6for each election precinct in a township, by the village clerk7for each election precinct in a village, and by the city clerk8for each election precinct in a city, at the expense of the town-9ship, village or city, as the case may be, a sufficient number of10suitable ballot boxesFOR EACH ELECTION PRECINCT, A BALLOT BOX 11 with lock and key, each of which ballot boxesAPPROVED UNDER 12 SECTION 24J. EACH BALLOT BOX shall have an opening through the 13 inside lid of the proper size to admit a singlefoldedballot 14, through which opening each ballot received shall be passed15 into the box.All ballot boxesEACH BALLOT BOX shall be pro- 16 vided with a second cover or a metal or wooden device for closing 17such slot so the same may not be openedTHE OPENING TO PREVENT 18 ACCESS without unlocking the ballot box and breaking the seal. 19thereon; andTHE CITY, TOWNSHIP, OR VILLAGE CLERK SHALL PROVIDE 20 AND KEEP ADEQUATE BALLOT BOXES FOR EACH PRECINCT. 21 (B) FOR EACH ELECTION PRECINCT, A BALLOT CONTAINER, IN ADDI- 22 TION TO A BALLOT BOX, APPROVED UNDER SECTION 24J, IF ANOTHER 23 BALLOT CONTAINER IS UTILIZED IN THE PRECINCT. A BALLOT CONTAINER 24 IS A CONTAINER INCLUDING A BALLOT BOX USED FOR TRANSPORTING AND 25 STORING VOTED BALLOT CARDS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 14A. 26 (C)(b) The boards of election commissioners of the several27cities, the township boards of the several townships and the03965'99 4 1councils of the various villages shall procure forFOR each 2 polling place,therein a flag of the United States,A UNITED 3 STATES FLAG. THE FLAG SHALL BE made of class "A" bunting andof4dimensionsMEASURE not less than 3 feetin width by 5 feet in5length, together with a staff and necessary appliances for dis-6playing the same, and shall deliver them in proper time to the7several boards of election inspectors whose duty it shall be to8cause the flag to be displayed at or in each polling place during9the progress of elections. Immediately thereafter, the boards10 WIDE AND 5 FEET LONG. THE BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS, TOWN- 11 SHIP BOARD, OR VILLAGE COUNCIL SHALL DELIVER THE FLAG AT THE TIME 12 PROVIDED IN THIS ACT TO THE BOARD OF ELECTION INSPECTORS FOR THE 13 JURISDICTION ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL ITEMS NEEDED TO DISPLAY THE 14 FLAG. THE ELECTION INSPECTORS SHALL ENSURE THAT THE FLAG IS DIS- 15 PLAYED AT EACH POLLING PLACE DURING AN ELECTION. IMMEDIATELY 16 AFTER THE ELECTION, THE BOARD of election inspectors shall return 17the flags, which shall be used only for the purpose herein men-18tioned, to the respective clerks who are charged with the proper19care and custody thereofEACH FLAG TO THE CLERK OF THE RESPEC- 20 TIVE JURISDICTION. THE CLERK SHALL PROVIDE PROPER CARE AND CUS- 21 TODY OF THE FLAG. THE FLAG SHALL BE USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR DISPLAY 22 IN A POLLING PLACE DURING AN ELECTION. 23 Sec. 805. (1) After the ballotsof each kindare counted 24 AS PROVIDED IN THIS CHAPTER, the board of election inspectors 25 shall securely tie the ballots in packages or rolls, and the 26 board of election inspectors shallcause to be indorsed and27attachedATTACH to each ballot bagaAN ENDORSED statement 03965'99 5 1 showing the number and kind of ballots included in the ballot 2 bag. The statement shall be securely attached to the outside of 3 the bag, as prescribed by the secretary of state. 4 (2) After all ballots are tied in packages or rolls, the 5 board of election inspectors shall place the ballots in ballot 6 bags approved by the secretary of state. The board of election 7 inspectors shall then seal the bags with an approved seal that 8 shall be furnished with the election supplies. The bags shall 9then togetherBE PLACED IN THE BALLOT BOX OR OTHER BALLOT CON- 10 TAINER PROVIDED FOR BALLOTS UNDER SECTION 669 ALONG with 1 tally 11 sheet,whenIF THE TALLY SHEET IS not combined with the state- 12 ment of returns., be placed in the ballot box provided for such13ballots.The board of election inspectors shall securely fasten 14 and seal the ballot box OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER with an 15 approved seal furnished with the election supplies., theTHE 16 seal shall be affixedin a manner that rendersTO RENDER it 17 impossible to open the ballot box OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER with- 18 out breaking the seal. The board of election inspectors shall 19 then deliver the ballot box OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER to the 20 township,orcity, OR VILLAGE clerk. 21 Sec. 871. (1) In a precinct using paper ballots, the board 22 of canvassers conducting a recount pursuant to this chapter shall 23 conduct the recount, subject to all of the following: 24 (a) The ballots in packages or ballot bags that are secured 25 and sealed so that a ballot cannot be removed or inserted unless 26 the ballot corresponds in number with the poll list delivered to 27 the appropriate clerk by the board of election inspectors, shall 03965'99 6 1 be recounted even though the ballot box OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER 2 is not securely sealed with the seal of record. 3 (b) If the ballot box OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER is securely 4 sealed with the seal of record, only the ballots that correspond 5 in number with the poll list delivered to the appropriate clerk 6 by the board of election inspectors shall be recounted even 7 though the ballots are not secured and sealed in packages or 8 ballot bags. 9 (c) If the ballot box OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER is not 10 securely sealed or if the seal on the ballot box OR OTHER BALLOT 11 CONTAINER is not the seal of record and the ballots in packages 12 or ballot bags are not secured and sealed so that a ballot cannot 13 be removed or inserted, the ballots shall not be recounted and 14 the original count of the ballots as reported by the board of 15 election inspectors shall stand as the correct count. 16 (d) If the number of ballots in a secured and sealed package 17 or bag and the number of ballots issued on election day as shown 18 on the poll list do not match and the difference is not explained 19 to the satisfaction of the board of canvassers, the ballots shall 20 not be recounted and the original count of the ballots as 21 reported by the board of election inspectors shall stand as the 22 correct count. 23 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the board 24 of canvassers conducting a recount pursuant to this chapter shall 25 recount all ballots of a precinct using an electronic voting 26 system unless 1 or more of the following circumstances exist: 03965'99 7 1 (a) The seal on the transfer case OR OTHER BALLOT CONTAINER 2 is broken or bears a different number than that recorded on the 3 poll book, the breaking or discrepancy is not explained to the 4 satisfaction of the board of canvassers, and security of the bal- 5 lots has not been otherwise preserved. 6 (b) The number of ballots TO BE RECOUNTED and the number of 7 ballots issued on election day as shown on the poll list or the 8 computer printout do not match and the difference is not 9 explained to the satisfaction of the board of canvassers. 10 (c) The seal used to seal the ballot label assembly to a 11 voting device in the precinct is broken or bears a different 12 number than that recorded in poll records and the ballot labels 13 or rotation of candidates' names is different than that shown by 14 other voting devices in the precinct and records of the board of 15 election commissioners. 16 (3) In a precinct in which voting machines are used, the 17 board of canvassers conducting a recount pursuant to this chapter 18 shall recount all voting machines used in the precinct unless 1 19 or more of the following circumstances exist: 20 (a) All voting machines used in a precinct shall not be 21 recounted if the sum of the numbers appearing on the public 22 counters of all voting machines used in the precinct exceeds the 23 total number of voters who voted in the precinct as shown by the 24 poll book, plus the number of times the machine was operated by 25 the inspectors of election and custodians, as shown by the record 26 of the board of election inspectors, and the excess is not 03965'99 8 1 explained to the satisfaction of the board of canvassers by the 2 inspectors of election of that precinct. 3 (b) A voting machine used in a precinct shall not be 4 recounted if the voting machine is not sealed with the seal of 5 record in such a manner as to render it impossible to vote on the 6 machine or to otherwise change the totals appearing on the indi- 7 vidual candidate or ballot question counters. 8 (c) A voting machine used in a precinct shall not be 9 recounted if the number appearing on the protective counter of 10 the voting machine at the time of the recount does not equal the 11 sum of the number appearing on the protective counter at the 12 opening of the polls as shown by the certificate of the board of 13 election inspectors and the number appearing on the public 14 counter at the time of the recount. 15 (4) In a precinct in which voting machines are used, which 16 precinct cannot be recounted under subsection (3), absent voter 17 ballots tallied in that precinct shall not be recounted unless 18 recorded separately. This section does not prohibit the recount- 19 ing of absent voter ballots tallied in a precinct using an absent 20 voter counting board or in a precinct in which 1 or more voting 21 machines are recountable, if the absent voter ballots are 22 securely packaged and sealed. 23 (5) If a board of canvassers conducting a recount pursuant 24 to this chapter determines that the ballots of a precinct are not 25 eligible for recount under this section, the original return of 26 the votes for that precinct shall be taken as correct. 03965'99 9 1 (6) A board of canvassers conducting a recount pursuant to 2 this chapter may conduct a recount by the following means: 3 (a) A manual tally of the ballots. 4 (b) A tabulation of the ballots on a computer using a soft- 5 ware application designed to specifically count only the office 6 or ballot question subject to the recount. 7 (c) A tabulation of the ballots on a computer using the same 8 software application used in the precinct on election day. 9 (d) Any combination of methods in subdivision (a), (b), or 10 (c), as determined appropriate by the board of canvassers. 11 (7) If a board of canvassers conducting a recount pursuant 12 to this chapter intends to conduct a recount on a computer, the 13 board of canvassers shall first test the software application by 14 use of a test deck to determine if the program accurately counts 15 the votes for the office or ballot question subject to the 16 recount. If the test under this subsection fails to show that 17 the software application accurately counts the votes for the 18 office or ballot question subject to the recount, the board of 19 canvassers shall use another means prescribed in subsection (6) 20 to conduct the recount. 03965'99 Final page. CAS