SENATE BILL NO. 278

A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled

"Michigan election law,"

by amending section 761d (MCL 168.761d), as added by 2020 PA 177.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 761d. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subsection (2), if an absent voter ballot drop box was ordered or installed in a city or township before October 1, 2020, that absent voter ballot drop box is exempt from the requirements of this section. Subsection (5) applies to an absent voter ballot drop box described in this subsection.subsections (3) and (4).

(2) If an absent voter ballot drop box was ordered, but not installed in, a city or township before October 1, 2020, the clerk of that city or township must make every reasonable effort to have that absent voter ballot drop box comply with the requirements of this section.subsections (3) and (4).

(3) An absent voter ballot drop box must meet all of the following requirements:

(a) Be clearly labeled as an absent voter ballot drop box.

(b) Whether located indoors or outdoors, be securely locked and be designed to prevent the removal of absent voter ballots when locked.

(c) If located in an area that is not continuously staffed, be secured to prevent the removal of the absent voter ballot drop box from its location.

(4) If an absent voter ballot drop box is located outdoors, all of the following apply:

(a) The drop box must be securely locked and bolted to the ground or to another stationary object.

(b) The drop box must be equipped with a single slot or mailbox-style lever to allow absent voter ballot return envelopes to be placed in the drop box, and all other openings on the drop box must be securely locked.

(c) The city or township clerk must use video monitoring of that drop box to ensure effective monitoring of that drop box.

(d) The drop box must be in a public, well-lit area with good visibility.

(e) The city or township clerk must immediately report to local law enforcement any vandalism involving the drop box or any suspicious activity occurring in the immediate vicinity of the drop box.

(5) Only a city or township clerk, his or her deputy clerk, or a sworn member of his or her staff, is authorized to collect absent voter ballots from an absent voter ballot drop box.

(6) When an individual who is authorized under subsection (5) collects absent voter ballots from an absent voter ballot drop box, that individual must, unless collecting absent voter ballots from other absent voter ballot drop boxes in the city or township, immediately return those collected absent voter ballots to the city or township clerk's office, or, if applicable, to an absent voter counting board on election day.

(7) All absent voter ballots collected from an absent voter ballot drop box must be transported in a ballot container approved under section 24j.

(8) The city or township clerk must document each time absent voter ballots are collected from an absent voter ballot drop box in that city or township. The documentation required under this subsection must include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(a) The date the absent voter ballots are collected from the absent voter ballot drop box.

(b) The name of the individual who collected the absent voter ballots from the absent voter ballot drop box.

(c) The location in the city or township of the absent voter ballot drop box.