Bill Text: MI HB4134 | 2021-2022 | 101st Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Elections: other; precinct size; increase, allow precinct consolidation at certain elections, and require clerks to maintain a permanent absent voter list. Amends secs. 658, 659 & 661 of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.658 et seq.) & adds sec. 759e.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 5-2)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-03-10 - Referred To Committee On Elections [HB4134 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2021-HB4134-Engrossed.html

 

 

Substitute For

HOUSE BILL NO. 4134

A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled

"Michigan election law,"

by amending sections 658, 659, and 661 (MCL 168.658, 168.659, and 168.661), sections 658 and 661 as amended by 2012 PA 270 and section 659 as amended by 2014 PA 94, and by adding section 759e.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 658. When If a city, ward, township, or village is divided into 2 or more election precincts, pursuant to law, and it appears from an examination of the precinct registration records that there are not more than 2,999 4,000 active registered electors in the city, ward, township, or village, using voting machines, the election commission, or other officials charged with the performance of the duty by the charter of a city or village, by resolution, may abolish the division or divisions and after that time the city, ward, township, or village shall constitute constitutes a single election precinct as if a division had not been made. A consolidation shall must not be made later than the 120 days before a primary or election.

Sec. 659. (1) If Subject to subsection (4), if a county, city, ward, township, village, metropolitan district, or school district is divided into 2 or more election precincts, the county, city, ward, or township , or village election commissioners may, by resolution, consolidate the election precincts for a particular election that is not a general November election. , primary election immediately before a general November election, or other statewide or federal election. In making the determination to consolidate election precincts for a particular election, the election commission shall take into consideration the number of choices the voter elector must make, the percentage of registered voters electors who voted at the last similar election in the jurisdiction, and the intensity of the interest of the electors in the jurisdiction concerning the candidates and proposals to be voted upon. Consolidated precincts shall must not exceed 5,000 active registered electors.

(2) A consolidation under this section shall must be made not less than 60 days before a primary, general, or special election.

(3) Unless the polling places for the election precincts to be consolidated are located in the same building, when a county, city, ward, or township , or village consolidates election precincts for a particular election under subsection (1), the election commissioners or other designated election officials shall do both of the following:

(a) Provide notice to the registered electors of the affected election precincts of the consolidation of election precincts for the particular election and the location of the polling place for the election precinct or precincts for that election. Notice may be provided by mail or other method designed to provide actual notice to the registered electors.

(b) Post a written notice at each election precinct polling place stating the location of the consolidated election precinct polling place.

(4) For a primary election occurring before a general November election, a consolidation under this section may occur only if the polling place for those consolidated precincts does not change. For a consolidation under this subsection, the election commissioners or other designated election officials are not required to provide notice of the consolidated precincts.

(5) (4) If a county, city, ward, or township , or village consolidates election precincts under this section, each affected election precinct shall must be treated as a whole unit and shall must not be divided during the consolidation.

Sec. 661. (1) When the voter registration in a precinct using voting machines is 1,000 or less, there shall be not less than 1 voting machine for each 500 active registered electors at the general November election and at the primary immediately preceding that election. When the voter registration in a precinct using voting machines is more than 1,000 and less than 3,000, there shall be at least 1 voting machine for each 600 active registered electors at the general November election and at the primary immediately preceding that election. At other primaries and elections, the number of voting machines shall be at the discretion of the local election commission. In making this determination, the local election commission shall take into consideration the number of choices the voter must make, the percentage of registered voters who voted at the last similar election in the jurisdiction, and the intensity of the interest of the electors in the jurisdiction concerning the candidates and proposals to be voted upon. When the voter registration in a precinct using voting machines exceeds 2,999, the precinct shall be divided or rearranged.

(1) (2) Except as provided in subsection (3), (2), city and township election commissions shall divide precincts according to law, not later than 210 days before the primary next preceding the general November election, and shall immediately notify the county clerk of the number of registered voters electors in each precinct in the city or township. The county clerk shall notify the secretary of state not later than 200 days before the primary of a precinct in the clerk's county which that has not been divided according to law, and the secretary of state shall proceed to make divisions as are necessary at the expense of the city or township involved, not later than 180 days before the primary next preceding the general November election. If the election commission of a city, village, or township using voting machines decides to use paper ballots for a primary or election, the preceding limitations shall continue for that election. A division of precincts shall must be made effective not later than 180 days before the primary election next preceding the general November election.

(2) (3) In the second year following each federal decennial census, precincts shall must be divided pursuant to under this subsection. City and township election commissions shall divide precincts , not later than 120 days before the primary election next preceding the general November election in order that a precinct, as far as is practical, is not split between districts and does not exceed 2,999 4,000 active registered voters, electors, and shall immediately notify the county clerk of the number of registered voters electors in each precinct in each city or township. The county clerk shall notify the secretary of state not later than 110 days before the primary of any precincts in the county which that have not been divided, and the secretary of state shall proceed to make the divisions as are necessary, at the expense of the city or township involved, not later than 90 days before the primary election next preceding the general November election. The division of precincts shall must be made effective not later than 90 days before the primary election. The secretary of state may authorize, upon written request by a city or township election commission, a later division of a precinct which that contains portions of more than 1 elective district. All precinct divisions shall must be completed not later than 90 days before the primary election next preceding the general November election. In determining the number of registered voters for a precinct under this subsection, a city or township election commission or the secretary of state, as applicable, may use either of the following:

(a) Only the active registered voters for that city or township.

(b) Both the active registered voters for that city or township and the voters in the inactive voter file for that city or township.

Sec. 759e. (1) Each county, city, or township clerk shall maintain a permanent absent voter application list. Only a county, city, or township clerk is authorized to maintain a permanent absent voter application list.

(2) A qualified and registered elector may submit a written request to be placed on the permanent absent voter application list of the county, city, or township in which the elector is registered to vote. A written request by an elector under this subsection must be made to the county, city, or township clerk in person, by facsimile communication, by email, or by first-class mail, must be on a form as prescribed by the county, city, or township clerk or in a format that substantially complies with the form prescribed by the county, city, or township clerk, and must include the elector's registered address.

(3) The request of each registered and qualified elector to be placed on the permanent absent voter application list must be entered in the qualified voter file in the same manner as data are entered for a new elector.

(4) The county, city, or township clerk responsible for issuing absent voter ballots for an election shall send to each elector on the permanent absent voter application list an application for an absent voter ballot for each election cycle. As used in this subsection, "each election cycle" means all elections held in a calendar year.

(5) A qualified and registered elector may request to be removed from the permanent absent voter application list of the county, city, or township. A written request by an elector under this subsection must be made to the county, city, or township clerk in person, by facsimile communication, by email, or by first-class mail, and must include the elector's signature and registered address.

(6) If the registration record of an elector is placed in the inactive voter file, the clerk of the county, city, or township in which that elector is registered must remove that elector from the permanent absent voter application list for that county, city, or township.

(7) If an elector is on a permanent absent voter application list and the elector changes his or her registered address, the elector's request to be on a permanent absent voter application list automatically continues and the elector must be listed on the permanent absent voter application list of the county, city, or township in which the elector is registered to vote.

Enacting section 1. Sections 658, 659, and 661 of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.658, 168.659, and 168.661, as amended by this amendatory act, take effect April 1, 2021.

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