HOUSE BILL No. 5137


     October 3, 2001, Introduced by Rep. Patterson and referred to the Committee on Redistricting and Elections.


        A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled

   "Michigan election law,"

   by amending sections 563, 705, and 796 (MCL 168.563, 168.705, and

   168.796), section 796 as amended by 1990 PA 109.

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

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           Sec. 563.  (1) The number of ballots to be printed for the

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      use of the electors at  any  A primary election in  any  AN
   elec-

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      tion precinct shall be not less than 25% more than the total

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      number of ballots cast  therein  IN THE ELECTION PRECINCT at the

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      corresponding primary election held 4 years previously.  The

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      ballot at  any  A partisan primary election shall consist of 1

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      sheet of 70-pound white book paper, machine finished, or the

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      equivalent.

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           (2) The  elections  ELECTION commission may provide that 1

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      of the political party tickets shall be printed on each side


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       thereof  OF THE BALLOT or that the POLITICAL party tickets shall

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      appear on 1 side of the ballot only.  If 3 or more POLITICAL par-

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      ties are represented at a partisan primary, the ballots shall be

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      arranged with a foldover extension or the election commission may

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      provide that the POLITICAL parties shall appear on 1 side of the

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      ballot only.  If the ballots are printed on 1 side only the order

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      of the POLITICAL parties on the ballot shall be the same as they

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      will appear on the general election ballot.  The POLITICAL par-

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      ties shall be separated by a heavy black line.  If ballots are

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      printed on 2 sides or with a foldover extension the  various

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      POLITICAL party tickets shall be printed, as near as may be, in

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      the manner  hereinbefore  set forth IN THIS SUBSECTION and shall

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      be rotated so that each POLITICAL party ticket will appear face

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      up on alternate ballots.

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           (3) The election commission may provide for the printing of

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      the ballots on colored paper as follows:

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           (A) State and county ballots  ,  ON white paper.  ;

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      nonpartisan

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           (B) NONPARTISAN ballots  ,  ON blue tinted paper.  ;

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      constitutional

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           (C) CONSTITUTIONAL amendments and state propositions  ,  ON

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      red tinted paper.  ; county

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           (D) COUNTY propositions  ,  ON green tinted paper.  ;
   local

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           (E) LOCAL propositions  ,  ON buff paper.  ; local

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           (F) LOCAL candidates  ,  ON white paper.







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           (G) If the election commission prints ballots on colored

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      paper, all instruction AND SAMPLE ballots shall be printed on any

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      color paper not used for official ballots.

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           Sec. 705.  (1)  The ballots of each kind  EACH BALLOT shall

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      be of uniform size and printed in black ink on white paper of a

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      grade equal to 50-pound book, machine finished, and sufficiently

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      thick so that the printing cannot be distinguished from the

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      back.   The ballots of each kind  EACH BALLOT shall be perforated

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      diagonally across the upper right-hand corner of the face

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       thereof  OF THE BALLOT, so that the corner can be readily  torn

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      off  DETACHED.  Printed on the detachable corner shall be the

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      name or kind of ballot, and a  bold-face  BOLD-FACED letter cor-

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      responding to a similar letter on the ballot box.  The ballots

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      shall be numbered consecutively on  such  THE DETACHABLE corner

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       , such  WITH THE number  to be  printed  thereon
    ON THE DETACH-

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      ABLE CORNER.

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           (2) This section  shall  DOES not prohibit the printing of

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      unnumbered ballots for emergency purposes.   Such  EMERGENCY bal-

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      lots shall, prior to being delivered to the polls, have the num-

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      bers printed or stamped on the detachable corners.  No 2 ballots

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      of the same kind in the same election precinct shall bear the

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      same number.

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           (3) The election commission may provide for the printing of

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      the ballots on colored paper as follows:

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           (A) State and county ballots  ,  ON white paper.  ;

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      non-partisan





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           (B) NONPARTISAN ballots  ,  ON blue tinted paper.  ;

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      constitutional

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           (C) CONSTITUTIONAL amendments and state propositions  ,  ON

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      red tinted paper.  ; county

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           (D) COUNTY propositions  ,  ON green tinted paper.  ;
   local

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           (E) LOCAL propositions  ,  ON buff paper.  ; local

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           (F) LOCAL candidates  ,  ON white paper.

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           (G) If the election commission prints ballots on colored

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      paper, all instruction AND SAMPLE ballots shall be printed on any

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      color paper not used for official ballots.

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           Sec. 796.   Sample ballots, which  A SAMPLE BALLOT shall be

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       facsimile copies  AN EXACT COPY of the official ballot or ballot

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      labels  ,  AND shall be provided as required by  law  THIS
   ACT.

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      At least 2 copies shall be posted in each polling place on elec-

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      tion day.  Sample ballots may be printed on a single page or on a

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      number of pages stapled together AND SHALL BE PRINTED ON ANY

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      COLOR PAPER NOT USED FOR OFFICIAL BALLOTS.























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