August 26, 2009, Introduced by Reps. Gregory, Robert Jones, Stanley, Lipton, LeBlanc, Haugh, Ebli, Byrnes, Pearce, Johnson, Roy Schmidt, Huckleberry, Byrum, Bauer, Polidori, Hammel, Corriveau, Leland, Barnett, Knollenberg, Dean, Switalski, Jackson, Angerer, Coulouris, Miller, Liss, Agema, Crawford, Melton, Lisa Brown and Nathan and referred to the Committee on Ethics and Elections.
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending section 759a (MCL 168.759a), as amended by 2006 PA 605.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 759a. (1) A member of the armed services or an overseas
voter who is not registered, but possessed the qualifications of an
elector under section 492, may apply for registration by using the
federal postcard application. The department of state, bureau of
elections, is responsible for disseminating information on the
procedures for registering and voting to absent armed services and
overseas voters.
(2) Each of the following persons who is a qualified elector
of a city, village, or township in this state and who is not a
registered voter may apply for an absent voter ballot:
(a) A civilian employee of the armed services outside of the
United States.
(b) A member of the armed services outside of the United
States.
(c) A citizen of the United States temporarily residing
outside the territorial limits of the United States.
(d) A citizen of the United States residing in the District of
Columbia.
(e) A spouse or dependent of a person described in
subdivisions (a) through (d) who is a citizen of the United States
and who is accompanying that person, even though the spouse or
dependent is not a qualified elector of a city, village, or
township of this state, if that spouse or dependent is not a
qualified and registered elector anywhere else in the United
States.
(3) Upon receipt of an application under this section that
complies with this act, and subject to subsection (4), a city,
village, or township clerk shall forward to the applicant the
absent voter ballots requested, the forms necessary for
registration, and instructions for completing the forms. If the
ballots are not yet available at the time of receipt of the
application, the clerk shall immediately forward to the applicant
the registration forms and instructions, and forward the ballots as
soon as they are available. If the ballots and registration forms
are received before the close of the polls on election day and if
the registration complies with the requirements of this act, the
absent voter ballots shall be delivered to the proper election
board to be voted. If the registration does not comply with the
requirements of this act, the clerk shall retain the absent voter
ballots until the expiration of the time that the voted ballots
must be kept and shall then destroy the ballots without opening the
envelope. The clerk may retain registration forms completed under
this section in a separate file. The address in this state shown on
a registration form is the residence of the registrant.
(4) The secretary of state may promulgate rules to do all of
the following:
(a) Allow a county, city, village, or township clerk to
transmit an absent voter ballot by electronic mail to an applicant
who is a member of the armed services or an overseas voter. The
absent voter ballot shall be transmitted to an electronic mail
address provided by the applicant.
(b) Provide procedures for how an absent voter ballot
transmitted by electronic mail to a member of the armed services or
an overseas voter pursuant to subdivision (a) is to be returned to
the county, city, village, or township clerk.
(5) (4)
The size of a precinct shall not be
determined by
registration forms completed under this section.
(6) (5)
A member of the armed services or
an overseas voter,
as described in subsection (2), who registers to vote by federal
postcard application under subsection (1), and who applies to vote
as an absent voter by federal postcard application is eligible to
vote as an absent voter in any local or state election, including
any school election, occurring in the calendar year in which the
federal postcard application is received by the city, village, or
township clerk, but not in an election for which the application is
received by the clerk after 2 p.m. of the Saturday before the
election. A city or township clerk receiving a federal postcard
application shall transmit to a village clerk and school district
election coordinator, where applicable, the necessary information
to enable the village clerk and school district election
coordinator to forward an absent voter ballot for each applicable
election in that calendar year to the qualified elector submitting
the federal postcard application. A village clerk receiving a
federal postcard application shall transmit to a city or township
clerk, where applicable, the necessary information to enable the
city or township clerk to forward an absent voter ballot for each
applicable election in that calendar year to the qualified elector
submitting the federal postcard application. If the local elections
official rejects a registration or absent voter ballot application
submitted on a federal postcard application by an absent armed
services or overseas voter, the election official shall notify the
armed services or overseas voter of the rejection.
(7) (6)
Under the uniformed and overseas
citizens absentee
voting act, 42 USC 1973ff to 1973ff-6, the state director of
elections shall approve a ballot form and registration procedures
for electors in the armed services and electors outside the United
States, including the spouses and dependents accompanying those
electors.
(8) (7)
As used in this section,
"armed services" means any of
the following:
(a) The United States army, navy, air force, marine corps, or
coast guard.
(b) The United States merchant marine.
(c) A reserve component of an armed service listed in
subdivision (a) or (b).
(d) The Michigan national guard as defined in section 105 of
the Michigan military act, 1967 PA 150, MCL 32.505.