HB-5062, As Passed House, March 29, 2012

SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 5062

A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled

"Michigan election law,"

by amending sections 31, 33, 514, 679a, 811, 847, 931, and 942 (MCL

168.31, 168.33, 168.514, 168.679a, 168.811, 168.847, 168.931, and

168.942), section 31 as amended by 2005 PA 71, section 33 as

amended by 2002 PA 91, section 514 as amended by 1992 PA 195,

section 679a as added by 2004 PA 256, sections 847 and 942 as

amended by 1995 PA 261, and section 931 as amended by 1996 PA 583,

and by adding section 31a.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 31. (1) The secretary of state shall do all of the

following:

(a) Subject to subsection (2), issue instructions and

promulgate rules pursuant to the administrative procedures act of

1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, for the conduct of

elections and registrations in accordance with the laws of this

state.

(b) Advise and direct local election officials as to the

proper methods of conducting elections.

before each state primary and election a manual of instructions

that includes specific instructions on assisting voters in casting

their ballots, directions on the location of voting stations in

polling places, procedures and forms for processing challenges, and

procedures on prohibiting campaigning in the polling places as

prescribed in this act.

(d) Publish indexed pamphlet copies of the registration,

primary, and election laws and furnish to the various county, city,

township, and village clerks a sufficient number of copies for

their own use and to enable them to include 1 copy with the

election supplies furnished each precinct board of election

inspectors under their respective jurisdictions. The secretary of

state may furnish single copies of the publications to

organizations or individuals who request the same for purposes of

instruction or public reference.

(e) Prescribe and require uniform forms, notices, and supplies

the secretary of state considers advisable for use in the conduct

of elections and registrations.

(f) Prepare the form of ballot for any proposed amendment to

the constitution or proposal under the initiative or referendum

provision of the constitution to be submitted to the voters of this

state.

(g) Require reports from the local election officials the

secretary of state considers necessary.

(h) Investigate, or cause to be investigated by local

authorities, the administration of election laws, and report

violations of the election laws and regulations to the attorney

general or prosecuting attorney, or both, for prosecution.

(i) Publish in the legislative manual the vote for governor

and secretary of state by townships and wards and the vote for

members of the state legislature cast at the preceding November

election, which shall be returned to the secretary of state by the

county clerks on or before the first day of December following the

election. All clerks shall furnish to the secretary of state,

promptly and without compensation, any further information

requested of them to be used in the compilation of the legislative

manual.

(j) Establish a curriculum for comprehensive training and

accreditation of all county, city, township, and village ~~, and~~

~~school elections~~ officials who are responsible for conducting

elections.

(k) Establish a continuing election education program for all

county, city, township, and village clerks.

(l) ~~(k)~~ Establish and require attendance by all new appointed

or elected election officials at an initial course of instruction

within 6 months before the date of the election.

(m) (l) Establish a comprehensive training curriculum for all

precinct inspectors.

House Bill No. 5062 (H-2) as amended March 28, 2012

(n) ~~(m)~~ Create an election day dispute resolution team that

has regional representatives of the department of state, which team

shall appear on site, if necessary.

(2) Pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969,

1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328, the secretary of state shall

promulgate rules establishing uniform standards for state and local

nominating, recall, and ballot question petition signatures. The

standards for petition signatures may include, but need not be

limited to, standards for all of the following:

(a) Determining the validity of registration of a circulator

or individual signing a petition.

(b) Determining the genuineness of the signature of a

circulator or individual signing a petition, including digitized

signatures.

circulator or individual signing a petition.

Sec. 31a. (1) In order to ensure compliance with the

provisions of this act, after each election the secretary of state

may audit election precincts.

(2) The secretary of state shall develop an election audit

program that details the documents to be inspected and the

procedures to be used during an election audit conducted under this

section. The secretary of state may train and certify county clerks

and their staffs for the purpose of conducting election audits of

precincts randomly selected [BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE]in their counties.

The secretary of

state shall supervise each county clerk in the performance of

election audits conducted under this section.

(3) Each county clerk who conducts an election audit under

this section shall provide the results of the election audit to the

secretary of state within 20 days after the election audit.

Sec. 33. (1) The director of elections shall conduct training

schools throughout this state ~~preceding~~ before the general November

election, and ~~preceding such~~ before other elections as the director

considers advisable, for county clerks and their representatives

with respect to the conducting of elections in accordance with the

election laws. Included in this training shall be instruction on

the uniform voting system. ~~In case any~~ If a county clerk ~~shall fail~~

fails to conduct in his or her county a training school for

election boards within the county, the director of elections shall

conduct ~~such~~ the training school, the cost of the training school

to be charged as an obligation of the county.

(2) The director of elections shall train all county, city,

and township clerks who are involved in the training of precinct

inspectors. The training shall include team training and monitoring

of their performance as trainers.

(3) The director of elections shall conduct all precinct

inspector training in counties where the clerk has not been

accredited to conduct the training schools.

(4) The director of elections shall conduct continuing

election education training courses for county, city, township, and

village clerks to attend. Each county, city, township, and village

clerk is required to attend and complete continuing election

education training at least once every 2 years to maintain

accreditation as a clerk. The department of state is responsible

for providing continuing election education training to the clerks

at no charge to the clerks, counties, cities, townships, or

villages.

Sec. 514. If the registration of an elector is ~~cancelled,~~

canceled, the clerk shall make a proper entry on the original and

duplicate registration cards, indicating the date and the cause for

cancellation, and shall affix his or her signature to the entries.

All copies of the ~~cancelled~~ canceled registration cards shall be

filed in the office of the clerk. All duplicates of the original

registration cards ~~so cancelled~~ canceled may be destroyed 2 years

after the registrations are ~~cancelled.~~ canceled. The clerk may also

destroy the original registration cards of an elector 10 5 years

after the date of cancellation of the elector's registration, if

the registration is not reinstated within that period. The clerk

may also destroy any ~~cancelled~~ canceled original registration cards

2 years after the date of cancellation if the ~~cancelled~~ canceled

registration cards are reproduced ~~pursuant to~~ under the records

~~media~~ reproduction act, 1992 PA 116, MCL 24.401 to 24.406, and the

reproductions are on file in the office of the clerk. The

reproductions may be destroyed after the expiration of the

statutory retention date of the reproduced records. The

registration records, if combustible, shall be destroyed by

burning.

Sec. 679a. (1) The ~~legislative body~~ election commission of a

city, township, or village ~~may,~~ shall, by resolution, provide that

at an election at which the ballots are counted and certified at

the precinct, 1 or more additional boards of election inspectors be

appointed to serve as receiving boards. For a precinct having

receiving boards, the board of election commissioners shall appoint

a receiving board consisting of 2 or more election inspectors, with

an equal number from each major political party, and shall appoint

an equal number of election inspectors from each major political

party.

(2) Not less than 2 election inspectors in a precinct,

representing each of the major political parties, shall deliver to

the receiving board for that precinct a sealed ballot container

containing the voted ballots, and, in a separate sealed envelope,

the poll book and statement of returns. The poll book and statement

of returns may be enclosed in a single sealed envelope.

(3) The receiving board shall open the sealed envelope and

review the poll book and statement of returns to determine both of

the following:

(a) That the ballot container is properly sealed and the seal

number is properly recorded in the poll book and the statement of

returns. If the ballot container is not properly sealed or there is

a discrepancy with the seal number recorded in the poll book or the

statement of returns, the election inspectors who delivered the

ballot container and the receiving board shall together take the

necessary steps to correct the discrepancy. The election inspectors

and the receiving board shall note the discrepancy and the

corrective action in the remarks section of the poll book and all

shall sign the notation.

(b) That the number of individuals voting recorded in the poll

book equals the number of ballots issued to electors, as shown by

the statement of returns. If the number of individuals voting as

shown by the poll book does not equal the number of ballots counted

as shown by the statement of returns, and if an explanation of the

discrepancy has not been noted in the poll book, the receiving

board shall ask the election inspectors about the discrepancy, note

the explanation in the poll book, and all shall sign the notation.

(4) If the poll book or statement of returns has been

erroneously sealed in the ballot container, the election inspectors

may open the ballot container and remove the poll book or statement

of returns. The elections inspectors and receiving board shall note

the corrective action in the remarks section of the poll book and

all shall sign the notation before placing the poll book or

statement of returns in a separate sealed envelope. If the

statement of returns was sealed in the ballot container and the

poll book was sealed in an envelope, the poll book shall be removed

from the sealed envelope for the notation of corrective action to

be recorded before placing the poll book and statement of returns

in a sealed envelope. The receiving board shall notify the clerk of

the board of canvassers responsible for canvassing all or a portion

of the election of the corrective action taken.

(5) When the receiving board has completed the review under

subsection (3), the receiving board shall place the poll book and

statement of returns in the appropriate envelope, sealed with a red

paper seal and initialed by the receiving board. If permitted by

the clerk of the board of canvassers, the poll books and statement

of returns from more than 1 precinct may be included and delivered

in a single envelope.

Sec. 811. All election returns, including poll lists,

statements, tally sheets, ~~absent voters' applications,~~ absent

voters' return envelopes bearing the statement required by section

761, absent voters' records required by section 760, and other

returns made by the inspectors of election of the several precincts

shall be carefully preserved and may be destroyed after the

expiration of 2 years following the primary or election at which

the same were used. All applications executed under section 523 and

all absent voters' applications shall be carefully preserved and

may be destroyed after the expiration of 6 years following the

primary or election at which those applications were executed. All

ballots used at any primary or election may be destroyed after 7 30

days following the final determination of the board of canvassers

with respect to ~~such~~ the primary or election unless a petition for

recount has been filed and not completed or unless their

destruction is stayed by an order of a court.

Sec. 847. The secretary of state may authorize the release of

all ballots, ballot boxes, voting machines, and equipment after 10

30 days following certification of an election by the board of

state canvassers in a precinct other than a precinct in which 1 or

more of the following occur:

(a) A petition for recount has been filed with the board of

state canvassers.

(b) A petition has been filed pursuant to section 879.

restraining interference with ballots, ballot boxes, voting

machines, and equipment.

Sec. 931. (1) A person who violates 1 or more of the following

subdivisions is guilty of a misdemeanor:

(a) A person shall not, either directly or indirectly, give,

lend, or promise valuable consideration , to or for any person , as

an inducement to influence the manner of voting by a person

relative to a candidate or ballot question , or as a reward for

refraining from voting.

(b) A person shall not, either before, on, or after an

election, for the person's own benefit or on behalf of any other

person, receive, agree, or contract for valuable consideration for

1 or more of the following:

(i) Voting or agreeing to vote, or inducing or attempting to

induce another to vote, at an election.

(ii) Refraining or agreeing to refrain, or inducing or

attempting to induce another to refrain, from voting at an

election.

(iii) Doing anything prohibited by this act.

(iv) Both distributing absent voter ballot applications to

voters and receiving signed applications from voters for delivery

to the appropriate clerk or assistant of the clerk. This

subparagraph does not apply to an authorized election official.

a candidate for nomination for, or election to, an office described

in this act. This subdivision does not apply to requests for

contributions of money by or to an authorized representative of the

political party committee of the organization to which the

candidate belongs. This subdivision does not apply to a regular

business transaction between a candidate and any other person that

is not intended for, or connected with, the securing of votes or

the influencing of voters in connection with the nomination or

election.

(d) A person shall not, either directly or indirectly,

discharge or threaten to discharge an employee of the person for

the purpose of influencing the employee's vote at an election.

(e) A priest, pastor, curate, or other officer of a religious

society shall not, for the purpose of influencing a voter at an

election, impose or threaten to impose upon the voter a penalty of

excommunication, dismissal, or expulsion , or command or advise the

voter , under pain of religious disapproval.

(f) A person shall not hire a motor vehicle or other

conveyance or cause the same to be done, for conveying voters,

other than voters physically unable to walk, to an election.

(g) In a city, township, village, or school district that has

a board of election commissioners authorized to appoint election

inspectors, ~~of election,~~ an election inspector, ~~of election,~~ a

clerk, or other election official who accepts an appointment as an

election inspector ~~of election~~ shall not fail to report at the

polling place designated on election morning at the time specified

by the board of election commissioners, unless excused as provided

in this subdivision. A person who violates this subdivision is

guilty of a misdemeanor , punishable by a fine of not more than

$10.00 or imprisonment for not more than 10 days, or both. An

election inspector, ~~of election,~~ clerk, or other election official

who accepts an appointment as an election inspector ~~of election~~ is

excused for failing to report at the polling place on election day

and is not subject to a fine or imprisonment under this subdivision

if 1 or more of the following requirements are met:

(i) The election inspector, ~~of election,~~ clerk, or other

election official notifies the board of election commissioners or

other officers in charge of elections of his or her inability to

serve at the time and place specified, 3 days or more before the

election.

(ii) The election inspector, ~~of election,~~ clerk, or other

election official is excused from duty by the board of election

commissioners or other officers in charge of elections for cause

shown.

(h) A person shall not willfully fail to perform a duty

imposed upon that person by this act , or disobey a lawful

instruction or order of the secretary of state as chief state

election officer or of a board of county election commissioners,

board of city election commissioners, or board of election

inspectors. ~~of election.~~

(i) A delegate or member of a convention shall not solicit a

candidate for nomination before the convention for money, reward,

position, place, preferment, or other valuable consideration in

return for support by the delegate or member in the convention. A

candidate or other person shall not promise or give to a delegate

money, reward, position, place, preferment, or other valuable

consideration in return for support by or vote of the delegate in

the convention.

(j) A person elected to the office of delegate to a convention

shall not accept or receive any money or other valuable

consideration for his or her vote as a delegate.

(k) A person shall not, while the polls are open on an

election day, solicit votes in a polling place or within 100 feet

from an entrance to the building in which a polling place is

located.

(l) A person shall not keep a room or building for the purpose,

in whole or in part, of recording or registering bets or wagers ,

or of selling pools upon the result of a political nomination,

appointment, or election. A person shall not wager property, money,

or thing of value, or be the custodian of money, property, or thing

of value , staked, wagered, or pledged, upon the result of a

political nomination, appointment, or election.

(m) A person shall not participate in a meeting or a portion

of a meeting of more than 2 persons, other than the person's

immediate family, at which an absent voter ballot is voted.

(n) A person, other than an authorized election official,

shall not, either directly or indirectly, give, lend, or promise

any valuable consideration to or for a person to induce that person

to both distribute absent voter ballot applications to voters and

receive signed absent voter ballot applications from voters for

delivery to the appropriate clerk.

(o) A person shall not threaten or intimidate an elector while

the elector is entering a polling place, applying to vote, entering

a voting compartment, voting, or leaving a polling place.

(p) A person shall not provide misinformation regarding an

election to an elector.

(2) A person who violates a provision of this act for which a

penalty is not otherwise specifically provided in this act , is

guilty of a misdemeanor.

(3) A person or a person's agent who knowingly makes,

publishes, disseminates, circulates, or places before the public,

or knowingly causes directly or indirectly to be made, published,

disseminated, circulated, or placed before the public, in this

state, either orally or in writing, an assertion, representation,

or statement of fact concerning a candidate for public office at an

election in this state, that is false, deceptive, scurrilous, or

malicious, without the true name of the author being subscribed to

the assertion, representation, or statement if written, or

announced if unwritten, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(4) As used in this section, "valuable consideration"

includes, but is not limited to, money, property, a gift, a prize

or chance for a prize, a fee, a loan, an office, a position, an

appointment, or employment.

Sec. 942. An offense under this act ~~other than fraudulent~~

~~registration~~ shall not be prosecuted unless the prosecution is

commenced within ~~2 years after the date of the registration,~~

~~primary, or election in connection with which the offense is~~

~~alleged to have been committed. Fraudulent registration under this~~

~~act shall not be prosecuted unless the prosecution is commenced~~

~~within~~ 3 years after the time the offense is discovered. The

complaining witness or any other person who is called to testify in

behalf of the people in a proceeding under this section shall not

be liable to criminal prosecution under this act for an offense in