SENATE BILL No. 625

 

 

June 27, 2007, Introduced by Senators BROWN, McMANUS, HARDIMAN and BISHOP and referred to the Committee on Campaign and Election Oversight.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled

 

"Michigan election law,"

 

by amending sections 613a, 614a, 615a, 624g, 641, and 759a (MCL

 

168.613a, 168.614a, 168.615a, 168.624g, 168.641, and 168.759a),

 

section 613a as amended by 2003 PA 13, sections 614a and 615a as

 

amended by 1999 PA 72, section 624g as amended by 1990 PA 7,

 

section 641 as amended by 2005 PA 71, and section 759a as amended

 

by 2006 PA 605, and by adding sections 615c and 759c; and to repeal

 

acts and parts of acts.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 613a. (1) Except in 2004 when no statewide presidential

 


primary shall be conducted as otherwise provided in subsection (2)

 

or (3), a statewide presidential primary election shall be

 

conducted under this act on the fourth first Tuesday in February in

 

each presidential election year.

 

     (2) The chairpersons of the participating political parties

 

may change the date of the statewide presidential primary election

 

as provided in this subsection. In order to change the date of the

 

statewide presidential primary election, each participating

 

political party chairperson shall file an affidavit with the

 

secretary of state no later than 4 p.m. on September 15 of the year

 

before the presidential election year recommending the same date on

 

which the statewide presidential primary election shall be

 

conducted. The recommended date shall fall on a Tuesday and shall

 

be no earlier than the second Tuesday in January and no later than

 

the fourth Tuesday in February of the presidential election year.

 

The statewide presidential primary election date shall not be

 

changed unless each participating political party chairperson

 

recommends the same date.

 

     (3) The chairpersons of the participating political parties

 

may agree to cancel the statewide presidential primary election as

 

provided in this subsection. In order to cancel the statewide

 

presidential primary election, each participating political party

 

chairperson shall file an affidavit with the secretary of state no

 

later than 4 p.m. on September 15 of the year before the

 

presidential election year recommending the cancellation of the

 

statewide presidential primary election. The statewide presidential

 

primary election shall not be canceled unless each participating

 


political party chairperson agrees to cancel the election.

 

     (4) (2) A political party that received 5% or less than 25% of

 

the total vote cast nationwide in this state for the office of

 

president in the last presidential election shall not participate

 

in the statewide presidential primary election.

 

     (5) (3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (6) and

 

sections 614a, 615a, 615c, 616a, 624g, and 879a, the statewide

 

presidential primary election shall be conducted under the

 

provisions of this act that govern the conduct of general primary

 

elections.

 

     (6) The delegate selection process after the statewide

 

presidential primary election shall be held in compliance with the

 

state and national political party rules, regulations, policies,

 

and procedures of each participating political party. Each

 

participating political party shall be the sole and exclusive

 

arbiter of the applicability and interpretation of its state and

 

national rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. Nothing in

 

this section shall be applied in a manner that diminishes or

 

impairs the state and federal constitutional rights of a

 

participating political party or gives this state, its political

 

subdivisions and agencies, or its courts jurisdiction or authority

 

over the applicability or interpretation of a participating

 

political party's state or national rules, regulations, policies,

 

and procedures.

 

     Sec. 614a. (1) Not later than 4 p.m. of the second Friday in

 

November of the year before the presidential election, the

 

secretary of state shall issue a list of the individuals generally

 


advocated by the national news media to be potential presidential

 

candidates for each party's nomination by the political parties for

 

which a presidential primary election will be held under section

 

613a.

 

     (1) (2) Not later than 4 p.m. of the Tuesday following the

 

second Friday in November of the year before the presidential

 

election on the fourth Tuesday in September of the year before the

 

presidential primary, the state chairperson of each political party

 

for which a presidential primary election will be held under

 

section 613a shall file with the secretary of state a list of

 

individuals whom they consider to be potential presidential

 

candidates for that political party.

 

     (2) (3) After the issuance of the list under subsection (1)

 

and after receipt of the names from the state chairperson of each

 

political party under subsection (2) (1), the secretary of state

 

shall notify each potential presidential candidate on the lists of

 

the provisions of this act relating to the statewide presidential

 

primary election.

 

     Sec. 615a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section,

 

the secretary of state shall cause the name of a presidential

 

candidate notified by the secretary of state under section 614a to

 

be printed on the presidential primary ballot under the appropriate

 

political party heading. A presidential candidate notified by the

 

secretary of state under section 614a may file an affidavit with

 

the secretary of state indicating his or her party preference if

 

different than the party preference contained in the secretary of

 

state notification and the secretary of state shall cause that

 


presidential candidate's name to be printed under the appropriate

 

party heading on the presidential primary ballot. A presidential

 

candidate notified by the secretary of state under section 614a may

 

file an affidavit with the secretary of state indicating that he or

 

she does not wish to have his or her name printed on the

 

presidential primary ballot and the secretary of state shall not

 

have that presidential candidate's name printed on the presidential

 

primary ballot. A presidential candidate shall file an affidavit

 

described in this subsection with the secretary of state no later

 

than 4 p.m. on the second Friday in December of the year before the

 

presidential election year fourth Tuesday in October of the year

 

before the presidential primary or the affidavit is considered

 

void.

 

     (2) The name of an individual who is not listed as a potential

 

presidential candidate under section 614a shall be printed on the

 

ballot for the presidential primary under the appropriate political

 

party heading if he or she files a nominating petition with the

 

secretary of state no later than 4 p.m. on the second Friday in

 

December of the year before the presidential election year twelfth

 

Tuesday before the statewide presidential primary election. The

 

nominating petition shall contain valid signatures of registered

 

and qualified electors equal to not less than 1/2 of 1% of the

 

total votes cast in the state at the previous presidential election

 

for the presidential candidate of the political party for which the

 

individual is seeking this nomination. However, the total number of

 

signatures required on a nominating petition under this subsection

 

shall not exceed 1,000 times the total number of congressional

 


districts in this state. A signature on a nominating petition is

 

not valid if obtained before October 1 August 15 of the year before

 

the presidential election year in which the individual seeks

 

nomination. To be valid, a nominating petition must conform to the

 

requirements of this act regarding nominating petitions, but only

 

to the extent that those requirements do not conflict with the

 

requirements of this subsection.

 

     (3) The names of the presidential candidates under each

 

political party heading shall be rotated on the ballot by precinct.

 

The ballot shall contain a space for an elector to vote

 

uncommitted.

 

     Sec. 615c. (1) In order to vote at a statewide presidential

 

primary election, an elector shall indicate, in a manner prescribed

 

by the secretary of state, in which political party primary he or

 

she wishes to vote.

 

     (2) An elector shall not be challenged at a statewide

 

presidential primary election based solely upon which political

 

party's primary the elector chooses to vote in.

 

     (3) The secretary of state shall develop a procedure for city

 

and township clerks to use when keeping a separate record at a

 

statewide presidential primary election that contains the printed

 

name, address, and qualified voter file number of each elector and

 

the political party primary in which that elector chooses to vote.

 

     (4) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the

 

information acquired or in the possession of a public body

 

indicating in which political party primary an elector chose to

 

vote during a statewide presidential primary election is

 


confidential, exempt from disclosure under the freedom of

 

information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246, and shall not

 

be disclosed to any person for any reason.

 

     (5) To ensure compliance with the state and national political

 

party rules of each participating political party, the records

 

described in subsection (3) shall be provided to the chairperson of

 

each participating political party as set forth in subsection (6).

 

     (6) Within 70 days after the presidential primary election,

 

the secretary of state shall provide to the chairperson of each

 

participating political party a file of the records of each

 

participating political party developed under subsection (3). The

 

secretary of state may set a schedule for county, city, and

 

township clerks to submit data or documents required under

 

subsection (3). The secretary of state and county, city, and

 

township clerks shall destroy the information indicating which

 

presidential primary ballot each elector requested as recorded in

 

subsection (3) immediately after the expiration of the 22-month

 

federal election records retention period.

 

     (7) Except as provided in subsection (8), a participating

 

political party shall not use the information created under

 

subsection (3) indicating which presidential primary ballot each

 

elector requested for any purpose, including a commercial purpose,

 

and shall not release the information to any other person,

 

organization, or vendor.

 

     (8) A participating political party may only use the

 

information created under subsection (3) to support candidates and

 

ballot proposals endorsed by the political party. A participating

 


political party may release the information created under

 

subsection (3) to another person, organization, or vendor for the

 

purpose of supporting that political party's endorsed candidates

 

and ballot proposals. This subsection does not permit a

 

participating political party to use the information related to

 

voters in another political party to support or oppose candidates

 

or ballot questions.

 

     (9) A participating political party that releases the

 

information created under subsection (3) to another person,

 

organization, or vendor shall enter into a contract with the

 

person, organization, or vendor and the contract shall do all of

 

the following:

 

     (a) State the information use restrictions.

 

     (b) Specify how and when the information will be used.

 

     (c) Prohibit the use for any other purpose.

 

     (d) Prohibit the retention of the information.

 

     (10) A participating political party shall retain a contract

 

entered into under subsection (9) for 6 years.

 

     (11) Any person who uses the information indicating which

 

presidential primary ballot an elector requested for a purpose not

 

specified in this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by

 

a fine of $1,000.00 for each voter record that is improperly used

 

or imprisonment for not more than 93 days, or both.

 

     Sec. 624g. (1) The state shall reimburse each county, city,

 

and township for the cost of conducting a presidential primary

 

election. The reimbursement shall not exceed the verified account

 

of actual costs of the election.

 


     (2) Payment shall be made upon presentation and approval of a

 

verified account of actual costs to the department of treasury,

 

local government audit division, after the department of treasury

 

and the secretary of state agree as to what constitutes valid costs

 

of conducting an election. Reimbursable costs do not include

 

salaries of permanent local officials; the cost of reusable

 

supplies and equipment; or costs attributable to local special

 

elections held in conjunction with the presidential primary

 

election. The state shall disapprove costs not in compliance with

 

this section.

 

     (3) The state shall also compensate each city and township for

 

the processing of voter identification cards required for the sole

 

purpose of changing or adding an elector's designation of a

 

political party preference or no political party preference.

 

Compensation shall not be paid to a city or township for the

 

processing of voter identification cards required for original

 

voter registration applications or voter registration applications

 

changing an elector's address. The secretary of state shall

 

equitably distribute funds appropriated to implement this

 

subsection upon receipt of an annual verified account of actual

 

costs from each city and township stating the number of voter

 

identification cards processed as specified by this subsection.

 

     (3) (4) The legislature shall appropriate from the general

 

fund of the this state an amount necessary to implement this

 

section.

 

     (4) (5) To qualify for reimbursement, a county, city, or

 

township shall submit its verified account of actual costs no later

 


than 90 days after the date of the presidential primary election.

 

     (5) (6) Not later than 90 days after the state receives a

 

verified account of actual costs, the state shall pay or disapprove

 

the verified account.

 

     Sec. 641. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section and

 

sections 642 and 642a, beginning January 1, 2005, an election held

 

under this act shall be held on 1 of the following regular election

 

dates:

 

     (a) The February regular election date, which is the fourth

 

Tuesday in February.

 

     (b) The May regular election date, which is the first Tuesday

 

after the first Monday in May.

 

     (c) The August regular election date, which is the first

 

Tuesday after the first Monday in August.

 

     (d) The November regular election date, which is the first

 

Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

 

     (2) If an elective office is listed by name in section 643,

 

requiring the election for that office to be held at the general

 

election, and if candidates for the office are nominated at a

 

primary election, the primary election shall be held on the August

 

regular election date.

 

     (3) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and

 

subsection (4), a special election shall be held on a regular

 

election date. A special election called by the governor under

 

section 145, 178, 632, 633, or 634 to fill a vacancy or called by

 

the legislature to submit a proposed constitutional amendment as

 

authorized in section 1 of article XII of the state constitution of

 


1963 may, but is not required to be, held on a regular election

 

date.

 

     (4) A school district may call a special election to submit a

 

ballot question to borrow money, increase a millage, or establish a

 

bond if an initiative petition is filed with the county clerk. The

 

petition shall be signed by a number of qualified and registered

 

electors of the district equal to not less than 10% of the electors

 

voting in the last gubernatorial election in that district or 3,000

 

signatures, whichever number is lesser. Section 488 applies to a

 

petition to call a special election for a school district under

 

this section. In addition to the requirements set forth in section

 

488, the proposed date of the special election shall appear beneath

 

the petition heading, and the petition shall clearly state the

 

amount of the millage increase or the amount of the loan or bond

 

sought and the purpose for the millage increase or the purpose for

 

the loan or bond. The petition shall be filed with the county clerk

 

by 4 p.m. of the twelfth Tuesday before the proposed date of the

 

special election. The petition signatures shall be obtained within

 

60 days before the filing of the petition. Any signatures obtained

 

more than 60 days before the filing of the petition are not valid.

 

If the special election called by the school district is not

 

scheduled to be held on a regular election date as provided in

 

subsection (1), the special election shall be held on a Tuesday. A

 

special election called by a school district under this subsection

 

shall not be held within 30 days before or 35 days after a regular

 

election date as provided in subsection (1). A school district may

 

only call 1 special election pursuant to this subsection in each

 


calendar year.

 

     (5) The secretary of state shall make a report to the house

 

and senate committees that consider election issues by December 1,

 

2006. The secretary of state shall report about the special

 

elections held under this subsection, including, but not limited

 

to, all of the following:

 

     (a) The number of times a special election has been held.

 

     (b) Which school districts have held special elections.

 

     (c) Information about the success rate of the ballot question

 

submitted at the special elections.

 

     (d) Information about voter turnout, including the percentage

 

and number of registered voters who voted in each special election.

 

     (6) The February regular election date as provided in

 

subsection (1) shall be replaced in each presidential election year

 

by the statewide presidential primary election date established

 

under section 613a if the statewide presidential primary election

 

occurs between the second Tuesday in January and the third Tuesday

 

in February of the presidential election year.

 

     (7) (6) The secretary of state shall direct and supervise the

 

consolidation of all elections held under this act.

 

     (8) (7) This section shall be known and may be cited as the

 

"Hammerstrom election consolidation law".

 

     Sec. 759a. (1) A member of the armed services 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 absent armed services and

 

overseas voters.

 

     (2) Each of the following persons who is a qualified elector

 

of a city, village, or township in this state and who is not a

 

registered voter may apply for an absent voter ballot:

 

     (a) A civilian employee of the armed services outside of the

 

United States.

 

     (b) A member of the armed services outside of the United

 

States.

 

     (c) A citizen of the United States temporarily residing

 

outside the territorial limits of the United States.

 

     (d) A citizen of the United States residing in the District of

 

Columbia.

 

     (e) A spouse or dependent of a person described in

 

subdivisions (a) through (d) who is a citizen of the United States

 

and who is accompanying that person, even though the spouse or

 

dependent is not a qualified elector of a city, village, or

 

township of this state, if that spouse or dependent is not a

 

qualified and registered elector anywhere else in the United

 

States.

 

     (3) Upon receipt of an application under this section that

 

complies with this act, a 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 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 voted. 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.

 

     (4) The size of a precinct shall not be determined by

 

registration forms completed under this section.

 

     (5) A member of the armed services or an overseas voter, as

 

described in subsection (2), who registers to vote by federal

 

postcard application under subsection (1), and who applies to vote

 

as an absent voter by federal postcard application is eligible to

 

vote as an absent voter in any local or state election, including

 

any school election, occurring in the calendar year in which the

 

federal postcard application is received by the city, village, or

 

township clerk, but not in an election for which the application is

 

received by the clerk after 2 p.m. of the Saturday before the

 

election. A city or township clerk receiving a federal postcard

 

application shall transmit to a village clerk and school district

 

election coordinator, where applicable, the necessary information

 

to enable the village clerk and school district election

 


coordinator to forward an absent voter ballot for each applicable

 

election in that calendar year to the qualified elector submitting

 

the federal postcard application. A village clerk receiving a

 

federal postcard application shall transmit to a city or township

 

clerk, where applicable, the necessary information to enable the

 

city or township clerk to forward an absent voter ballot for each

 

applicable election in that calendar year to the qualified elector

 

submitting the federal postcard application. If the local elections

 

official rejects a registration or absent voter ballot application

 

submitted on a federal postcard application by an absent armed

 

services or overseas voter, the election official shall notify the

 

armed services or overseas voter of the rejection.

 

     (6) For a presidential primary election to be held under

 

section 613a, the secretary of state shall do all of the following:

 

     (a) Prescribe procedures for contacting an elector who is

 

registered or who registers under this section to ascertain his or

 

her party ballot selection for the presidential primary election.

 

     (b) Prescribe procedures to ensure confidentiality of an

 

elector's party ballot selection ascertained under this section.

 

     (7) (6) Under the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee

 

voting act, 42 USC 1973ff to 1973ff-6, the state director of

 

elections shall approve a ballot form and registration procedures

 

for electors in the armed services and electors outside the United

 

States, including the spouses and dependents accompanying those

 

electors.

 

     (8) (7) As used in this section, "armed services" means any of

 

the following:

 


     (a) The United States army, navy, air force, marine corps, or

 

coast guard.

 

     (b) The United States merchant marine.

 

     (c) A reserve component of an armed service listed in

 

subdivision (a) or (b).

 

     (d) The Michigan national guard as defined in section 105 of

 

the Michigan military act, 1967 PA 150, MCL 32.505.

 

     Sec. 759c. For a presidential primary election to be held

 

under section 613a, the secretary of state shall do all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) Revise the absent voter ballot application form described

 

in section 759 or provide a separate form to require that a

 

presidential primary elector indicate a party ballot selection.

 

     (b) Prescribe procedures to ensure confidentiality of an

 

elector's party ballot selection.

 

     Enacting section 1. Sections 562b, 618, 619, and 620a of the

 

Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.562b, 168.618, 168.619,

 

and 168.620a, are repealed.