Bill Text: MI SB0277 | 2021-2022 | 101st Legislature | Enrolled

Michigan Senate Bill 277 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Elections: election officials; county clerks to update the qualified voter file to cancel the voter registration records of deceased voters; require, require electronic notification to city and township clerks of canceled voter registration records, and require the secretary of state to post data on the department's website regarding canceled voter registration records. Amends secs. 509o & 510 of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.509o & 168.510).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 13-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2021-10-19 - Postponed For The Day [SB0277 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2021-SB0277-Enrolled.html

state of michigan

101st Legislature

Regular session of 2021

Introduced by Senators MacDonald, Horn, LaSata, Theis, Stamas, Zorn, Bizon, Barrett, Victory, Daley, Bumstead, Outman and VanderWall

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 277

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 sections 509o and 510 (MCL 168.509o and 168.510), section 509o as amended by 2018 PA 126.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 509o. (1) The secretary of state shall direct and supervise the establishment and maintenance of a statewide qualified voter file. The secretary of state shall establish the technology to implement the qualified voter file. The qualified voter file is the official file for the conduct of all elections held in this state. The secretary of state may direct that all or any part of the city or township voter registration files must be used in conjunction with the qualified voter file at the first state primary and election held after the creation of the qualified voter file.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an individual who appears to vote in an election and whose name appears in the qualified voter file for that city, township, or school district is considered a registered voter of that city, township, or school district under this act.

(3) The secretary of state, a designated voter registration agency, or a county, city, or township clerk shall not place a name of an individual into the qualified voter file unless that individual signs an application as prescribed in section 509r(3). The secretary of state or a designated voter registration agency shall not allow an individual to indicate a different address than the address in either the secretary of state�s or designated voter registration agency�s files to be placed in the qualified voter file.

(4) The secretary of state shall develop and utilize a process by which information obtained through the United States Social Security Administration�s death master file that is used to cancel an operator�s or chauffeur�s license issued under the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.1 to 257.923, or an official state personal identification card issued under 1972 PA 222, MCL 28.291 to 28.300, of a deceased resident of this state is also used at least once a month to update the qualified voter file to cancel the voter registration of any elector determined to be deceased. The secretary of state shall make the canceled voter registration information under this subsection available to the clerk of each county, city, or township to assist with the clerk�s obligations under section 510.

(5) Subject to this subsection, the secretary of state shall participate with other states in 1 or more recognized multistate programs or services, if available, to assist in the verification of the current residence and voter registration status of electors. The secretary of state shall not participate in any recognized multistate program or service described in this subsection that requires this state to promote or adopt legislation as a condition of participation in that program or service. In addition, the secretary of state shall not participate in any recognized multistate program or service described in this subsection if the secretary of state determines that data of that program or service are not being adequately secured or protected. The secretary of state shall follow the procedures under section 509aa(5) with regard to any electors affected by information obtained through any multistate program or service.

Sec. 510. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (5), at least once a month, and not later than the second business day of each month, each county clerk shall update the qualified voter file to cancel the voter registration of all individuals over 18 years of age who have died in the county.

(2) Each time a county clerk updates the qualified voter file under subsection (1) or (5), the secretary of state shall send an electronic notification to the appropriate city or township clerk regarding each canceled voter registration in that city or township.

(3) Upon receiving an electronic notification under subsection (2), the city or township clerk shall compare the electronic notification with the voter registration records in that city or township and complete the cancellation of the voter registration of each deceased elector in that city or township.

(4) If the secretary of state updates the qualified voter file to cancel the voter registration of any deceased elector, the secretary of state shall send an electronic notification to the appropriate city or township clerk regarding each canceled voter registration in that city or township. The secretary of state shall notify each appropriate city or township clerk of any voter registration that needs to be canceled after 4 p.m. on the day before an election so that the city or township clerk can cancel the voter registration.

(5) Beginning 45 days before an election and continuing until 16 days before an election, each county clerk shall update the qualified voter file by the close of business each Friday before the election to cancel the voter registration of all individuals over 18 years of age who have died in the county. Beginning 15 days before an election and continuing until the day before an election, each county clerk shall update the qualified voter file by the close of business each business day before the election to cancel the voter registration of all individuals over 18 years of age who have died in the county. Each county clerk shall notify each appropriate city or township clerk in the county of any voter registration that needs to be canceled after 4 p.m. on the day before an election so that the city or township clerk can cancel the voter registration.

(6) At least once a month, the secretary of state shall post on the department of state website the total number of voter registrations canceled, broken down by all of the following:

(a) Month and year.

(b) County.

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