Bill Text: MI SB0402 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Elections: other; voting and elections database and institute act; create. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: SB 0401'23, SB 0403'23
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2024-09-17 - Referred To Committee On Elections [SB0402 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-SB0402-Engrossed.html
Substitute For
SENATE BILL NO. 402
A bill to create a voting and elections database and institute; to provide for the powers and duties of certain state and local governmental officers and entities; and to provide remedies.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. This act may be cited as the "voting and elections database and institute act".
(a) "Database and institute" means the Michigan voting and elections database and institute created in section 5(1).
(b) "Local government" means any of the following:
(i) A county.
(ii) A city, township, or any other political subdivision of this state that conducts an election.
Sec. 5. (1) No later than November 5, 2025, the secretary of state shall enter into an agreement with 1 or more public research universities in this state to create the Michigan voting and elections database and institute to maintain and administer a central repository of elections and voting data available to the public from all local governments in this state and to foster, pursue, and sponsor research on existing laws and best practices in voting and elections.
(2) The database and institute shall provide a center for research, training, and information on voting systems and election administration. The database and institute may do any of the following:
(a) Conduct classes both for credit and noncredit.
(b) Organize interdisciplinary groups of scholars to research voting and elections in this state.
(c) Conduct seminars involving voting and elections.
(d) Establish a nonpartisan centralized database in order to collect, archive, and make publicly available at no cost an accessible database pertaining to elections, voter registration, and ballot access in this state.
(e) Assist in the dissemination of election data to the public.
(f) Publish books and periodicals as the database and institute considers appropriate on voting and elections in this state.
(g) Provide nonpartisan technical assistance to local governments, scholars, and the general public seeking to use the resources of the database and institute.
(3) If the secretary of state enters into an agreement with 1 or more public research universities as provided under subsection (1), the parties to that agreement shall enter into a memorandum of understanding that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(a) The initial term of the memorandum of understanding is for not less than 25 years.
(b) The university or universities select the director of the database and institute.
(c) The secretary of state is responsible only for the costs of entering into the memorandum of understanding with the university or universities to create the database and institute and for the transfer of election and voting data and records, and the university or universities are responsible for any other costs associated with operating the database and institute.
(4) The database and institute shall maintain in an electronic format, and make publicly available as described in this subsection, all relevant election and voting data and records for at least the previous 12-year period. Except for any data, information, or estimates that identify individual electors, the data, information, and estimates, as described in this subsection, must be posted on the institute's website and made available to the public at no cost. Maps, election day polling places, early voting sites, and absent voter ballot drop box locations must be made available in a geospatial file format. The database and institute shall prepare any estimates made under this section by applying the most advanced, peer-reviewed, and validated methodologies available. The data and records that must be maintained include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(a) Estimates of the total population, voting age population, and citizen voting age population by racial, color, or language minority group and disability status, broken down to the precinct level, on a year-by-year basis, for every local government in this state, based on data from the United States Census Bureau, including the American Community Survey, collected by a public office.
(b) Election results at the precinct level for every federal, state, and local election held in every local government in this state.
(c) The most recent general election voter registration lists, voter history files, election day polling places, early voting sites, and absent voter ballot drop box locations for every election in every local government in this state.
(d) The most recent general election maps or other documentation of the configuration of precincts.
(e) Election day polling places and early voting sites, including, but not limited to, lists of precincts assigned to each election day polling place and early voting site, if applicable.
(f) Adopted districting or redistricting plans for every election in every local government in this state.
(g) Any other data that the director of the database and institute considers necessary to maintain in furtherance of the purposes of the database and institute.
(5) The database and institute shall implement rigorous cybersecurity standards for the election and voting data and records maintained by the database and institute that are comparable to the cybersecurity standards implemented by the department of technology, management, and budget.
(6) After the required 12-year period for making data, information, and estimates publicly available, as described in subsection (4), all relevant election and voting data and records must be permanently maintained in an electronic format by the database and institute for archival purposes.
(7) The data, information, and estimates maintained by the database and institute may, in the discretion of a court, be relied on as evidence.
(8) No later than 180 days after an election, the secretary of state shall transmit to the database and institute copies of all of the following:
(a) Election results at the precinct level.
(b) The most recent general election voter registration lists.
(c) Voter history files.
(d) Maps, descriptions, and shapefiles for election districts.
(e) Lists of election day polling places and early voting sites, shapefiles, or descriptions of the precincts assigned to each election day polling place and early voting site.
(9) Subject to this subsection, all state agencies and local governments shall timely provide the secretary of state with any publicly available election and voting data and records that are reasonably requested by the secretary of state. Before the secretary of state requests any publicly available election and voting data and records from state agencies and local governments under this subsection, the secretary of state must consult with the director of the database and institute, the Michigan Association of County Clerks, and the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks. Upon receiving any publicly available election and voting data and records from state agencies and local governments under this subsection, the secretary of state shall transfer those publicly available election and voting data and records in a timely manner to the database and institute.
(10) Subject to this subsection, the secretary of state shall reimburse each local government for the cost of providing any requested election and voting data and records to the secretary of state as required under subsection (9). The reimbursement of a local government must not exceed the allowable costs to the local government as described in section 4 of the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.234. To qualify for reimbursement, a local government must submit a verified account of its allowable costs to the secretary of state no later than 90 days after the requested election and voting data and records are provided to the secretary of state. No later than 90 days after the secretary of state receives a verified account of allowable costs from a local government as provided under this subsection, the secretary of state shall pay or disapprove the verified account.
(11) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, after a local government has provided any requested election and voting data and records to the secretary of state as required under subsection (9), and those election and voting data and records have been posted on the institute's website as provided under subsection (4), that local government is no longer obligated to provide those election and voting data and records in response to a written request under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. If that local government receives a written request from a person under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246, for election and voting data and records as described in this subsection, the local government shall, within 10 business days after receiving the written request, give written notice to the requesting person that the request for the election and voting data and records must be submitted to the database and institute.
(12) The attorney general, the director of the database and institute, or a designee of the attorney general or director may file an action to enforce compliance with this section.
(13) No later than 90 days following the end of each state fiscal year, the database and institute shall publish a report on the priorities and finances of the database and institute.
(14) Subsections (2) to (13) take effect May 5, 2026.
Enacting section 1. This act does not take effect unless all of the following bills of the 102nd Legislature are enacted into law:
(a) Senate Bill No. 401.
(b) Senate Bill No. 403.
