Bill Text: MI SB1270 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Elections; absent voters; overseas and military voters; allow absentee ballots postmarked by the close of the polls on election day to be counted and tabulated. Amends sec. 759a of 1954 PA 116 (MCL 168.759a).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-09-12 - Referred To Committee On Local Government And Elections [SB1270 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB1270-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 1270
September 12, 2012, Introduced by Senator WHITMER and referred to the Committee on Local Government and Elections.
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending section 759a (MCL 168.759a), as amended by 2012 PA 279.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 759a. (1) An absent uniformed services voter or an
overseas voter who is not registered, but possessed the
qualifications of an elector under section 492, may apply for
registration by using the federal postcard application. The
department of state, bureau of elections, is responsible for
disseminating information on the procedures for registering and
voting to an absent uniformed services voter and an overseas voter.
(2) Upon the request of an absent uniformed services voter or
an overseas voter, the clerk of a county, city, township, or
village shall electronically transmit a blank voter registration
application or blank absent voter ballot application to the voter.
The clerk of a county, city, township, or village shall accept a
completed voter registration application or completed absent voter
ballot application electronically transmitted by an absent
uniformed services voter or overseas voter. A voter registration
application or absent voter ballot application submitted by an
absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter shall contain the
signature of the voter.
(3) A spouse or dependent of an overseas voter who is a
citizen of the United States, is accompanying that overseas voter,
and is not a qualified and registered elector anywhere else in the
United States, may apply for an absent voter ballot even though the
spouse or dependent is not a qualified elector of a city or
township of this state.
(4) An absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter,
whether or not registered to vote, may apply for an absent voter
ballot. Upon receipt of an application for an absent voter ballot
under this section that complies with this act, a county, city,
village, or township clerk shall forward to the applicant the
absent voter ballots requested, the forms necessary for
registration, and instructions for completing the forms. If the
ballots are not yet available at the time of receipt of the
application, the clerk shall immediately forward to the applicant
the registration forms and instructions, and forward the ballots as
soon as they are available. If a federal postcard application or an
application from the official United States department of defense
website is filed, the clerk shall accept the federal postcard
application or the application from the official United States
department of defense website as the registration application and
shall not send any additional registration forms to the applicant.
If the ballots and registration forms are received before the close
of the polls on election day and if the registration complies with
the requirements of this act, the absent voter ballots shall be
delivered to the proper election board to be counted and tabulated
for the final results of the election. If the ballots and
registration forms are postmarked by the close of the polls on
election day, the ballots are received before the election results
are certified by the appropriate canvassing board responsible for
canvassing the election as provided under this act, and the
registration complies with the requirements of this act, the absent
voter ballots shall be counted and tabulated for the final results
of the election. If the registration does not comply with the
requirements of this act, the clerk shall retain the absent voter
ballots until the expiration of the time that the voted ballots
must be kept and shall then destroy the ballots without opening the
envelope. The clerk may retain registration forms completed under
this section in a separate file. The address in this state shown on
a registration form is the residence of the registrant.
(5) Not later than 45 days before an election, a county, city,
township, or village clerk shall electronically transmit or mail as
appropriate an absent voter ballot to each absent uniformed
services voter or overseas voter who applied for an absent voter
ballot 45 days or more before the election.
(6) Upon the request of an absent uniformed services voter or
overseas voter, the clerk of a county, city, township, or village
shall electronically transmit an absent voter ballot to the voter.
The voter shall print the absent voter ballot and return the voted
ballot by mail to the appropriate clerk.
(7) The secretary of state shall prescribe electronic absent
voter ballot formats and electronic absent voter ballot
transmission methods. Each county, city, township, or village clerk
shall employ the prescribed electronic ballot formats to fulfill an
absent voter ballot request received from an absent uniformed
services voter or overseas voter who wishes to receive his or her
absent voter ballot through an electronic transmission. The
secretary of state shall establish procedures to implement the
requirements in this section and for the processing of a marked
absent voter ballot returned by an absent uniformed services voter
or overseas voter who obtained his or her absent voter ballot
through an electronic transmission.
(8) The secretary of state shall modify the printed statement
provided under section 761(4) and the absent voter ballot
instructions provided under section 764a as appropriate to
accommodate the procedures developed for electronically
transmitting an absent voter ballot to an absent uniformed services
voter or overseas voter. A statement shall be included in the
certificate signed by the absent voter who obtained his or her
absent voter ballot through an electronic transmission that the
secrecy of the absent voter ballot may be compromised during the
duplication process. The absent voter ballot instructions provided
to an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter shall
include the proper procedures for returning the absent voter ballot
to the appropriate clerk.
(9) The size of a precinct shall not be determined by
registration forms completed under this section.
(10) An absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter
who submits an absent voter ballot application is eligible to vote
as an absent voter in any local, state, or federal election
occurring in the calendar year in which the election is held for
that ballot requested if the absent voter ballot application is
received by the county, city, village, or township clerk not later
than 2 p.m. of the Saturday before the election. A county, city, or
township clerk receiving an absent voter ballot application from an
absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter shall transmit to
a village clerk and the school district election coordinators,
where applicable, the necessary information to enable the village
clerk and school district election coordinators to forward an
absent voter ballot for each applicable election in that calendar
year to the absent voter. A village clerk receiving an absent voter
ballot application from an absent uniformed services voter or
overseas voter shall transmit to the township clerk and the school
district election coordinators, where applicable, the necessary
information to enable the city or township clerk and school
district election coordinators to forward an absent voter ballot
for each applicable election in that calendar year to the absent
voter. If the local elections official rejects a voter registration
application or absent voter ballot application submitted by an
absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter, the election
official shall notify the voter of the rejection.
(11) An electronic mail address provided by an absent
uniformed services voter or overseas voter for the purposes of this
section is confidential and exempt from disclosure under the
freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(12) Under the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting
act, the state director of elections shall approve a ballot form
and registration procedures for absent uniformed services voters
and overseas voters.
(13) An absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter
may use the federal write-in absentee ballot, in accordance with
the provisions of the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee
voting act, at a regular election or special election to vote for a
local, state, or federal office or on a ballot question. An absent
uniformed services voter or an overseas voter who uses the federal
write-in absentee ballot shall return his or her voted federal
write-in absentee ballot by mail to the appropriate clerk. The
state bureau of elections shall do both of the following:
(a) Make the ballot format for each election available to
absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters by electronic
mail or on an internet website maintained by the department of
state.
(b) Make the ballot information, including the offices, names
of candidates, and ballot proposals, for each election available to
absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters on an internet
website maintained by the department of state.
(14) The clerk of a city, village, or township shall submit to
the county clerk of the county in which that city, village, or
township is located a written statement no later than 45 days
before each election indicating whether absent voter ballots were
issued to absent uniformed services voters or overseas voters in
compliance with this section and the uniformed and overseas
citizens absentee voting act. The city, village, or township clerk
shall provide to the county clerk a written explanation describing
remedial actions taken by the city, village, or township clerk if
the city, village, or township clerk fails to comply with this
section and the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting
act. Not later than 42 days before each election, each county clerk
shall submit to the state bureau of elections a written report
compiled from the written statements submitted by the city,
village, and township clerks. The written report shall identify the
cities, villages, and townships that complied with the 45-day
deadline under this subsection, the cities, villages, and townships
that did not comply with the 45-day deadline under this subsection,
but provided a written explanation, and those cities, villages, and
townships that did not comply with the 45-day deadline under this
subsection and that did not provide a written explanation. The
state bureau of elections may require the clerk of a city, village,
or township that did not comply with the 45-day deadline under this
subsection, but provided a written explanation, to provide
additional information. The state bureau of elections shall require
the clerk of a city, village, or township that did not comply with
the 45-day deadline and that did not provide a written explanation
to file a written explanation, describing the remedial actions
taken by the city, village, or township clerk, within 1 business
day after the state bureau of elections notifies the clerk of that
city, village, or township.
(15) For a presidential primary election, the secretary of
state shall prescribe procedures for contacting an elector who is
an absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter, as
described in this section, and who is eligible to receive an absent
voter ballot or who applies for an absent voter ballot for the
presidential primary election, offering the elector the opportunity
to select a political party ballot for the presidential primary
election.
(16) As used in this section:
(a) "Absent uniformed services voter" means any of the
following:
(i) A member of a uniformed service on active duty who, by
reason of being on active duty, is absent from the place of
residence where the member is otherwise qualified to vote.
(ii) A member of the merchant marine who, by reason of service
in the merchant marine, is absent from the place of residence where
the member is otherwise qualified to vote.
(iii) A spouse or dependent of a member referred to in
subparagraph (i) or (ii) who, by reason of the active duty or service
of the member, is absent from the place of residence where the
spouse or dependent is otherwise qualified to vote.
(b) "Member of the merchant marine" means an individual, other
than a member of a uniformed service or an individual employed,
enrolled, or maintained on the Great Lakes or the inland waterways,
who is either of the following:
(i) Employed as an officer or crew member of a vessel
documented under the laws of the United States, a vessel owned by
the United States, or a vessel of foreign-flag registry under
charter to or control of the United States.
(ii) Enrolled with the United States for employment or training
for employment, or maintained by the United States for emergency
relief service, as an officer or crew member of a vessel documented
under the laws of the United States, a vessel owned by the United
States, or a vessel of foreign-flag registry under charter to or
control of the United States.
(c) "Overseas voter" means any of the following:
(i) An absent uniformed services voter who, by reason of active
duty or service, is absent from the United States on the date of an
election.
(ii) A person who resides outside of the United States and is
qualified to vote in the last place in which the person was
domiciled before leaving the United States.
(iii) A person who resides outside of the United States and who,
but for such residence outside of the United States, would be
qualified to vote in the last place in which he or she was
domiciled before leaving the United States.
(d) "Uniformed services" means the army, navy, air force,
marine corps, coast guard, the commissioned corps of the public
health service, the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and
atmospheric administration, a reserve component of a uniformed
service, or the Michigan national guard as defined in section 105
of the Michigan military act, 1967 PA 150, MCL 32.505.
