November 19, 2008, Introduced by Rep. Alma Smith and referred to the Committee on Ethics and Elections.
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
county clerk who is the school district election coordinator for a
school district or a city, township, or village clerk may conduct a
local election by mail in the city, township, village, or school
district, under the supervision of the secretary of state. In
deciding to conduct a local election by mail, a county clerk who is
the school district election coordinator for a school district or a
city, township, or village clerk shall consider requests from the
governing body of the city, township, village, or school district
and whether conducting the election by mail is economically and
administratively feasible.
(2) The August primary held under section 534, the general
November election, and any other election in which a candidate for
statewide office, judicial office, legislative office, or
countywide office is nominated or elected shall be conducted as an
election by mail.
(3) Not later than January 1, 2008, a county clerk who is the
school district election coordinator for a school district or a
city, township, or village clerk shall advise the governing body of
the city, township, village, or school district for which the clerk
is the election official as to each local election held in that
city, township, village, or school district that will be conducted
as an election by mail. Periodically, the clerk may review its
decision of whether a local election will be conducted as an
election by mail. If an earlier decision to conduct or not conduct
a local election as an election by mail is changed, the clerk shall
notify the governing body of the city, township, village, or school
district not later than the third Tuesday in January of the year in
which the election is to be held of that change. This subsection
does not apply to an election required to be held as an election by
mail under subsection (2).
(4) 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 county, 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, village, or school district for voters 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, village, or school district 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 county, 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 voter who is registered in the city, township, village, or
school district as of the thirtieth day before the date of the
election by mail. The clerk shall address the ballot to the
registered voter as that voter's name appears on the registration
records of that voter. Except as otherwise provided in this
subsection and 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. For a
statewide election by mail, the secretary of state shall prescribe
in rules promulgated under section 750a(4) the date on which the
official ballots and envelopes for the statewide election by mail
are to be mailed by a clerk under this subsection. However, the
secretary of state shall provide in those rules that all ballots
shall be mailed by 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 voter 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, village, or school
district, the county, city, township, or village clerk shall
proceed in the same manner as prescribed in section 523a for a
person 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 voter shall mark the ballot, sign the
return identification envelope supplied with the ballot, and comply
with the instructions provided with the ballot. The voter may
return the marked ballot to the appropriate county, 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 voter may return the marked ballot
to the appropriate county, city, township, or village clerk by
depositing it at the office of the clerk or other place of deposit
designated by the clerk. The voter 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) A voter may obtain a replacement election by mail ballot
if the ballot is destroyed, spoiled, lost, or not received by the
voter. A voter who seeks a replacement ballot shall sign a sworn
statement that the ballot was destroyed, spoiled, lost, or not
received by the voter 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,
village, or school district 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 voter 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 voter
to whom the ballot was issued.
(c) The signature is verified as provided in subsection (10).
(10) The county, city, township, or village clerk shall verify
the signature of each voter on the return identification envelope
with the signature of the voter on the voter's 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 a
voter 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 voter. A clerk or other election official who
becomes aware of a person 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 a voter casting a ballot at
an election by mail, or both, is subject to challenge as prescribed
in this act.