STATE BOARD OF CANVASSERS: SUFFICIENCY

OF BALLOT QUESTION PETITIONS

House Bill 6138

Sponsor:  Rep. Barb Vander Veen

Committee:  Local Government and Urban Policy

Complete to 9-28-04

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 6138 AS INTRODUCED 9-9-04

House Bill 6138 would amend the Michigan Election Law to require the board of state canvassers to declare a petition to put a question on the ballot to be sufficient unless the board determined that the petition was not in proper form or that the number of valid signatures was less than the minimum number required.

Currently under the law, the board of state canvassers makes an official declaration of the sufficiency or insufficiency of a petition at least two months before the election at which the proposal is to be submitted.  If the canvassers declare the petition sufficient, the secretary of state send copies of the proposal’s statement of purpose to daily and weekly newspapers in the state, with the request that the proposal be given wide publicity.  [The law specifies that publication about the proposals in response to the request would not be paid for by the state.]  House Bill 6138 would retain these and other provisions.

MCL 168.477

FISCAL IMPACT:

There would be no fiscal impact to the state or to local units of government.

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   J. Hunault

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Robin Risko

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.