Act No. 43

Public Acts of 2015

Approved by the Governor

June 5, 2015

Filed with the Secretary of State

June 5, 2015

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 5, 2015

STATE OF MICHIGAN

98TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2015

Introduced by Senator Ananich

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 329

AN ACT to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled “An act to reorganize, consolidate, and add to the election laws; to provide for election officials and prescribe their powers and duties; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, state agencies, and state and local officials and employees; to provide for the nomination and election of candidates for public office; to provide for the resignation, removal, and recall of certain public officers; to provide for the filling of vacancies in public office; to provide for and regulate primaries and elections; to provide for the purity of elections; to guard against the abuse of the elective franchise; to define violations of this act; to provide appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal certain acts and all other acts inconsistent with this act,” by amending section 644f (MCL 168.644f), as amended by 2012 PA 276.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 644f. (1) Except as provided in this section and section 644e, nominating petitions for offices to be filled at the odd year general election shall be filed by 4 p.m. on the fifteenth Tuesday before the odd year primary election. The place of filing and the number of signatures shall be the same as is now required by law for those offices.

(2) If a nonpartisan petition requirement is not contained in law or charter, the minimum number of signatures shall be the amount as provided for in section 544f.

(3) If, upon the expiration of the time for filing nonpartisan petitions, not more than twice the number of candidates as there are persons to be elected to that office have filed, the primary for that office shall not be held and those persons filing valid petitions shall be declared the nominees for the offices, unless a city charter provides otherwise for city offices.

(4) Until December 31, 2015, the nominating petition filing deadline for candidates for city offices may be adjusted as provided in subsection (5) if all of the following occur:

(a) The city clerk publishes a nominating petition filing deadline that is different than the fifteenth Tuesday before the odd year primary election or the odd year general election and the nominating petition filing deadline published by the city clerk is between the fifteenth Tuesday and the twelfth Tuesday before the odd year primary election or the odd year general election.

(b) The city clerk did not publicly correct the filing deadline error at least 2 weeks before the fifteenth Tuesday before the odd year primary election or the odd year general election.

(c) One or more candidates for city offices in that city relied upon the incorrect nominating petition filing deadline, failed to file nominating petitions by the fifteenth Tuesday before the odd year primary election or the odd year general election, and filed nominating petitions by the filing deadline published by the city clerk that are determined by the city clerk to contain a sufficient number of valid signatures.

(5) If the bureau of elections confirms that all of the conditions set forth in subsection (4) are met, the bureau of elections may authorize the city clerk to adjust the nominating petition filing deadline for that odd year primary election or that odd year general election from the fifteenth Tuesday before the odd year primary election or the odd year general election to the incorrectly published nominating petition filing deadline.

(6) A city that falls under subsections (4) and (5) is subject to all of the following:

(a) Until December 31, 2017, the city clerk of that city shall attend at least once annually an election training school conducted by the director of elections as provided in section 33.

(b) Until December 31, 2017, the city clerk shall submit nominating petitions to the secretary of state for final approval as to form before being circulated for signatures and shall submit any election filing deadline calendars and any correspondence relating to those calendars to the secretary of state before being provided to the public.

(c) The secretary of state shall conduct a postelection audit after each November election held in the city in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

(d) The secretary of state shall conduct an administrative audit of the city clerk’s elections operations and shall report the results of that administrative audit to the house and senate committees dealing with elections no later than October 1, 2015.

(e) Until December 31, 2015, the secretary of state shall conduct preelection precinct election inspector training for those acting as precinct election inspectors at any August or November election held in the city.

(f) Notwithstanding section 683, beginning January 1, 2016 and until December 31, 2017, those acting as precinct election inspectors at any August or November election held in the city shall attend a preelection training school for election inspectors conducted by the county clerk of the county in which the city is located.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved

Governor