Bill Text: MI SB0832 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Elections; offenses; misdemeanor against a member of a religious society for influencing an elector at an election by threatening excommunication, dismissal, or expulsion; eliminate. Amends sec. 931 of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.931).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-02 - Referred To Committee On Elections And Government Reform [SB0832 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2015-SB0832-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 832
March 2, 2016, Introduced by Senators COLBECK, GREEN, CASPERSON, MARLEAU and SHIRKEY and referred to the Committee on Elections and Government Reform.
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending section 931 (MCL 168.931), as amended by 1996 PA 583.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 931. (1) A person who violates 1 or more of the following
subdivisions is guilty of a misdemeanor:
(a) A person shall not, either directly or indirectly, give,
lend,
or promise valuable consideration
, to or for any person , as
an inducement to influence the manner of voting by a person
relative
to a candidate or ballot question
, or as a reward for
refraining from voting.
(b) A person shall not, either before, on, or after an
election, for the person's own benefit or on behalf of any other
person, receive, agree, or contract for valuable consideration for
1 or more of the following:
(i) Voting or agreeing to vote, or inducing or attempting to
induce another to vote, at an election.
(ii) Refraining or agreeing to refrain, or inducing or
attempting to induce another to refrain, from voting at an
election.
(iii) Doing anything prohibited by this act.
(iv) Both distributing absent voter ballot applications to
voters and receiving signed applications from voters for delivery
to the appropriate clerk or assistant of the clerk. This
subparagraph does not apply to an authorized election official.
(c) A person shall not solicit any valuable consideration from
a candidate for nomination for, or election to, an office described
in this act. This subdivision does not apply to requests for
contributions of money by or to an authorized representative of the
political party committee of the organization to which the
candidate belongs. This subdivision does not apply to a regular
business transaction between a candidate and any other person that
is not intended for, or connected with, the securing of votes or
the influencing of voters in connection with the nomination or
election.
(d) A person shall not, either directly or indirectly,
discharge or threaten to discharge an employee of the person for
the purpose of influencing the employee's vote at an election.
(e)
A priest, pastor, curate, or other officer of a religious
society
shall not for the purpose of influencing a voter at an
election,
impose or threaten to impose upon the voter a penalty of
excommunication,
dismissal, or expulsion, or command or advise the
voter,
under pain of religious disapproval.
(e) (f)
A person shall not hire a motor
vehicle or other
conveyance or cause the same to be done, for conveying voters,
other than voters physically unable to walk, to an election.
(f) (g)
In a city, township, village, or
school district that
has a board of election commissioners authorized to appoint
election inspectors, of election, an election inspector, of
election,
a clerk, or other election official
who accepts an
appointment
as an election inspector of election shall not fail to
report at the polling place designated on election morning at the
time specified by the board of election commissioners, unless
excused as provided in this subdivision. A person who violates this
subdivision
is guilty of a misdemeanor , punishable
by a fine of
not more than $10.00 or imprisonment for not more than 10 days, or
both.
An election inspector, of election, clerk, or other election
official
who accepts an appointment as an election
inspector of
election
is excused for failing to report at
the polling place on
election day and is not subject to a fine or imprisonment under
this subdivision if 1 or more of the following requirements are
met:
(i) The election
inspector, of election, clerk,
or other
election official notifies the board of election commissioners or
other officers in charge of elections of his or her inability to
serve at the time and place specified, 3 days or more before the
election.
(ii) The election
inspector, of election, clerk,
or other
election official is excused from duty by the board of election
commissioners or other officers in charge of elections for cause
shown.
(g) (h)
A person shall not willfully fail
to perform a duty
imposed
upon that person by this act , or
disobey a lawful
instruction or order of the secretary of state as chief state
election officer or of a board of county election commissioners,
board of city election commissioners, or board of election
inspectors. of
election.
(h) (i)
A delegate or member of a
convention shall not solicit
a candidate for nomination before the convention for money, reward,
position, place, preferment, or other valuable consideration in
return for support by the delegate or member in the convention. A
candidate or other person shall not promise or give to a delegate
money, reward, position, place, preferment, or other valuable
consideration in return for support by or vote of the delegate in
the convention.
(i) (j)
A person elected to the office of
delegate to a
convention shall not accept or receive any money or other valuable
consideration for his or her vote as a delegate.
(j) (k)
A person shall not, while the polls
are open on an
election day, solicit votes in a polling place or within 100 feet
from an entrance to the building in which a polling place is
located.
(k) (l) A
person shall not keep a room or building for the
purpose, in whole or in part, of recording or registering bets or
wagers , or of selling pools upon the result of a political
nomination, appointment, or election. A person shall not wager
property, money, or thing of value, or be the custodian of money,
property,
or thing of value , staked,
wagered, or pledged, upon the
result of a political nomination, appointment, or election.
(l) (m)
A person shall not participate in a
meeting or a
portion of a meeting of more than 2 persons, other than the
person's immediate family, at which an absent voter ballot is
voted.
(m) (n)
A person, other than an authorized
election official,
shall not, either directly or indirectly, give, lend, or promise
any valuable consideration to or for a person to induce that person
to both distribute absent voter ballot applications to voters and
receive signed absent voter ballot applications from voters for
delivery to the appropriate clerk.
(2) A person who violates a provision of this act for which a
penalty
is not otherwise specifically provided in this act , is
guilty of a misdemeanor.
(3) A person or a person's agent who knowingly makes,
publishes, disseminates, circulates, or places before the public,
or knowingly causes directly or indirectly to be made, published,
disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in this
state, either orally or in writing, an assertion, representation,
or statement of fact concerning a candidate for public office at an
election in this state, that is false, deceptive, scurrilous, or
malicious, without the true name of the author being subscribed to
the assertion, representation, or statement if written, or
announced if unwritten, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(4) As used in this section, "valuable consideration"
includes, but is not limited to, money, property, a gift, a prize
or chance for a prize, a fee, a loan, an office, a position, an
appointment, or employment.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.
