ABSENT VOTER WITH FEDERAL POSTCARD APPLICATION
House Bill 5086
Sponsor: Rep. Edward Gaffney
Committee: Local Government and Urban Policy
Complete to 9-25-03
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5086 AS INTRODUCED 9-25-03
House Bill 5086 would amend the Michigan Election Law to make absentee voting easier for those electors who are military or civilian employees of the United States government who are temporarily residing oversees or in the District of Columbia, and who apply to vote as absentee voters by federal postcard.
The bill specifies that an elector who applied to vote as an absentee voter by federal postcard application would be eligible to vote in any election that occurred within the calendar year in which his or her application had been received by the city, village, or township clerk. However, the elector could not vote in an election if the application had been received by the clerk after the 2 p.m. deadline on the Saturday before the election.
The bill also would require that the clerk forward the ballots to all eligible absent voters specified in this legislation, as soon as the ballots were available before an election. In addition, the bill would require that the clerk comply with all other provisions of the act regarding the handling of absent voter ballots.
Finally, the bill would delete the requirement for an affidavit, in the following instances. Currently under the law, an elector who is a civilian employee of the armed services outside of the United States, or a citizen who is temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States, or a citizen who is residing in the District of Columbia, must include with their application for an absent voter ballot, an affidavit (in a form and manner approved by the state director of elections) that states either a) his or her qualifications as an elector at the time of departure from the U.S., or when he or she began residency in the District of Columbia, and affirming that he or she had not relinquished citizenship or established residence for voting elsewhere; or, b) that he or she was a spouse or dependent of a person described above, that he or she met the qualifications of an elector other than residency, and that he or she had not established residence for voting in another place. House Bill 5086 would eliminate these provisions of the law.
MCL 168.759 and 168.759a
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.