ABSENT VOTER COUNTING BOARD PROCEDURE

House Bill 6030

Sponsor:  Rep. Lisa Brown

Committee:  Ethics and Elections

Complete to 5-10-10

A REVISED SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 6030 AS INTRODUCED 4-13-10

House Bill 6030 would amend the Michigan Election Law so that an absent voter counting board would not be treated as a separate precinct; instead the results of ballots tabulated in an absent voter counting board would be combined with the results of the appropriate precinct.

Now under the law, generally speaking, in a city, township, or village that uses voting machines, absent voter ballots must be counted by absent ballot counting boards.  In a city, township, or village that does not use voting machines, the absent voter ballots can be counted by absent voter counting boards, or can be counted in the same manner as is otherwise provided for precincts in which voting is not done on voting machines.  The law currently requires that where absent voter counting boards are used, each ballot form that contains identical offices and names shall be considered a separate precinct for the purposes of the act.

House Bill 6030 would retain the provision that absent voter ballots can be counted by absent voter counting boards, but specify that an absent voter counting board is not a separate precinct.  Instead, the bill would require that the results of ballots tabulated in an absent voter counting board be combined with the results from the appropriate precinct.

Finally, the bill would be updated to remove references to school board secretaries or school employee-designees found in the definition of "local election official."

MCL 168.569, 168.671, 168.792a

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

House Bill 6030 would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on state and local government.  Local units of government would presumably realize savings under the provisions of the bill.  However, the amount of savings to local units of government cannot be ascertained with any certainty because the savings would depend on the characteristics of each local unit.

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   J. Hunault

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Ben Gielczyk

■ 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.