STATEWIDE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY S.B. 625: FLOOR ANALYSIS








Senate Bill 625 (as reported without amendment)
Sponsor: Senator Cameron S. Brown
Committee: Campaign and Election Oversight

CONTENT
The bill would amend the Michigan Election Law to do the following:

-- Require a statewide presidential primary election on the first, rather than the fourth, Tuesday in February in each presidential election year. -- Require an elector to indicate in which political party primary he or she wished to vote.
-- Require the Secretary of State to prescribe procedures to ascertain an absent voter's party selection, and to ensure confidentiality of the selection.
-- Prohibit a political party from using the elector party selection records except as provided in the bill, and prescribe a misdemeanor penalty for a violation.
-- Change the February regular election date to coincide with a statewide presidential primary election.
-- Require a party to have received at least 25% of the total vote cast in the State, rather than 5% of the total vote cast in the nation, for the office of President in the last presidential election in order to participate in a statewide presidential primary election.
-- Authorize the State chairpersons of participating political parties to change the primary date or cancel the primary under certain conditions.
-- Delete a requirement that the State compensate cities and townships for processing electors' designations of political party preference.
-- Repeal provisions pertaining to the selection of delegates to a State or national convention.


MCL 168.613a et al. Legislative Analyst: Craig Laurie

FISCAL IMPACT
There could be an indeterminate cost associated with changing the date of a presidential primary. If more than one party held a primary election, the voter turnout could be larger, thus increasing the cost of the election. There also could be minimal costs associated with the Secretary of State's ascertaining each voter's party ballot selection for the primary election.


The creation of a new misdemeanor would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on local government. There are no data to indicate how many offenders would be convicted of misusing the information indicating which presidential primary ballot an elector requested. Local governments would incur the costs of misdemeanor probation and incarceration in local facilities, which vary by county. Additional penal fine revenue would benefit public libraries.


Date Completed: 8-17-07 Fiscal Analyst: Joe Carrasco Lindsay Hollander


floor\sb625 Analysis available @ http://www.michiganlegislature.org
 This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.

Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb625/0708