Bill Text: MI SB0977 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Elections; registration; same-day voter registration; allow. Amends secs. 491, 497 & 497a of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.491 et seq.) & adds sec. 499e.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-03 - Referred To Committee On Elections And Government Reform [SB0977 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-SB0977-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 977
May 3, 2018, Introduced by Senator BIEDA and referred to the Committee on Elections and Government Reform.
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending sections 491, 497, and 497a (MCL 168.491, 168.497, and
168.497a), sections 491 and 497 as amended by 1989 PA 142 and
section 497a as amended by 1986 PA 220, and by adding section 499e.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec.
491. The board of election inspectors of election at an
election
or primary election in this state, or in a district,
county, township, city, or village in this state, shall not receive
the vote of a person whose name is not registered in the
registration book or listed on the computer voter registration
precinct list of the township, ward, or precinct in which he or she
offers to vote unless the person has met the requirements of
section 507b or has registered to vote at the polling place on the
day of the election as provided in section 499e.
Sec. 497. (1) A person who is not registered to vote but
possesses
meets the qualifications of an elector as set forth
provided in section 492 , may apply for registration
to the clerk
of the county, township, city, or village in which he or she
resides
on a day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday. ,
or
the day of a regular, primary, school, or special election.
Registrations
accepted between the thirtieth day preceding before
an
election and the day of before the election, unless the
thirtieth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, in
which
event registration shall must
be accepted during the
following day, are not valid for the election but are valid for a
subsequent
regular, primary, school, or special elections that are
election
that is held so that not less more
than 30 days intervene
between
after the date the person registered. and
the date of the
election.
A person who is not
registered to vote but meets the
qualifications of an elector as provided in section 492 may apply
for registration to the clerk of the township, city, or village, or
authorized assistant to the clerk at the polling place on the day
of an election as provided in section 499e. A registration accepted
at the polling place on the day of an election is valid for that
election and all subsequent elections.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section and sections
499a
to 499c, 499e, 500a to 500j, and 504, 509v, an
application for
registration
shall must not be executed at a place other than the
office of the county, township, city, or village clerk or a public
place
or places designated by the clerk or deputy registrar for
receiving
registrations. , but the However, a clerk or deputy
registrar
assistant clerk may receive an application wherever he or
she may be. If a county, township, city, or village clerk does not
regularly keep his or her office open daily during certain hours,
the
clerk shall is not be required to be at his or her office
for
the purpose of receiving applications for registration on a
particular day nor during specific hours of a day, except as
provided
in section 498. Registrations A
registration taken after
the time of closing registrations before an election need not be
processed
until the date immediately following that election .
A
registration
shall and must not be placed in a precinct
registration file until the date immediately following that
election. If a person registers at a time that registrations are
closed
for an election, the person shall must be given a notice,
signed by the clerk, on a form developed by the secretary of state,
informing him or her that, unless the person registers at the
polling place on the day of the election, he or she is not eligible
to vote in the election and indicating the first date on which he
or she is eligible to vote. Except as provided in sections 500a to
500j,
the provisions of this section relating to registration shall
apply.
Sec. 497a. The 30-day limitation contained in section 497
shall
does not apply to a second school millage election
allowable
under
section 36(3) of the general property tax act, Act No. 206 of
the
Public Acts of 1893, as amended, being section 211.36 of the
Michigan
Compiled Laws, or to a first school millage election held
under
section 36(2) during calendar year 1986 if a school
district's
operating revenue is less than the total operating
revenue
for the previous school year. 1893
PA 206, MCL 211.36. For
those
elections, a registration taken on the days intervening
accepted between the tenth day preceding before
the election and
the
day of before the election shall is not
be valid for that
election
but shall be is valid for a subsequent regular, primary,
or special election of the district. A person may register at the
polling place on the day of the election as provided in section
499e.
Sec. 499e. (1) The clerk of a city, township, or village shall
be present or have an assistant clerk be present at a polling place
at all times the polling place is open on the day of an election
held under this act. The clerk or assistant clerk shall receive
applications for registration as provided in this section.
(2) In addition to all other rights to registration under this
chapter, an elector entitled to registration in an election
precinct may become registered in the precinct by applying in
person to a clerk or assistant clerk at the polling place on the
day of an election. The elector shall execute in duplicate a
registration sworn statement and swear to and sign the sworn
statement in the presence of the clerk or assistant clerk.
(3) The clerk or assistant clerk shall require the applicant
for registration to answer under oath a question concerning the
elector's qualification as an elector. The clerk or assistant clerk
may administer oaths and swear persons as to the truth of
statements contained in registration sworn statements. The clerk
may employ and swear an interpreter to interpret all questions put
to an applicant and the answers to those questions. If the
applicant, in answer to a question or in the registration sworn
statement, knowingly makes a material statement that is false, the
applicant is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(4) If the applicant is entitled to registration, the clerk or
assistant clerk shall personally sign and note on the registration
sworn statement the acceptance of the registration. If the
registration is refused, the clerk or assistant clerk shall destroy
the applicant's registration sworn statement. The clerk or
assistant clerk shall not accept a fee from an elector applying for
registration, either for the registering of the elector or for the
taking of the acknowledgment on the sworn statement. A clerk or
assistant clerk who accepts a fee is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(5) Immediately after approving an application for
registration under subsection (4), the clerk or assistant clerk
shall prepare a registration card or an insert to a registration
list in a form prescribed by the secretary of state. The clerk or
assistant clerk shall have the registration card or insert to a
registration list transferred to the board of election inspectors
at the polling place to allow the newly registered elector to apply
to vote as provided in section 523.
(6) The clerk shall prepare and send a voter identification
card in the manner prescribed for corrected voter identification
cards in section 499 as soon as practical after the election.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.
