HOUSE BILL No. 4602 April 29, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Switalski, Rivet, Wojno, Vear, Sheltrown, Garza and Bovin and referred to the Committee on Constitutional Law and Ethics. A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled "Michigan election law," by amending sections 559, 561, 568, 570, 572, 575, 576, and 795 (MCL 168.559, 168.561, 168.568, 168.570, 168.572, 168.575, 168.576, and 168.795), sections 568 and 570 as amended by 1985 PA 160, section 576 as amended by 1996 PA 213, and section 795 as amended by 1998 PA 21. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 559.It shall be the duty of theTHE board of elec- 2 tion commissioners of each county in this statetoSHALL pre- 3 pare and furnish the necessary official primary election ballots, 4 except for city offices,whichTHAT may be required for use by 5 the electorsof any political partyat the August primary. 6 Sec. 561. (1) The ballots prepared by the board of election 7 commissioners in each county for use by the electorsof a02308'99 KKR 2 1political partyat a primary election shall include the names of 2 all candidates oftheEACH political party for the office of 3 governor, United States senator, and district offices;, and,4 in each county, the names of all candidates oftheEACH politi- 5 cal party for county offices;,and in each township, the names 6 of all candidates oftheEACH political party for township 7 offices. 8 (2) If, in a district comprised of not more than 1 county, 2 9 or more candidates, including candidates for nonpartisan offices, 10 for the same office have the same or similar surnames, a candi- 11 date may file a written request with the board of county election 12 commissioners for a clarifying designation. The CANDIDATE 13 REQUESTING THE CLARIFYING DESIGNATION SHALL FILE THE request 14shall be filednot later than 3 days after the last date for 15 filing nominating petitions. Not later than 3 days after the 16 filing of the request, the board of county election commissioners 17 shall determine whether a similarity exists and whether a clari- 18 fying designation should be granted. In a district comprised of 19 more than 1 county, the board of state canvassers shall make a 20 like determination for a clarifying designation upon the written 21 request of a candidate who files nominating petitions with the 22 secretary of state. The CANDIDATE REQUESTING THE CLARIFYING DES- 23 IGNATION SHALL FILE THE requestshall be filedwith the state 24 board of canvassers not later than 5 days after the last date for 25 filing nominating petitions. The board of state canvassers shall 26 make its determination at the same time it makes a declaration of 02308'99 3 1 the sufficiency or insufficiency of nominating petitions in 2 compliance with section 552. 3 (3)In each instanceUPON MAKING A DETERMINATION UNDER 4 SUBSECTION (2), the determining board shall notify the requester 5 and the other candidate affected of its determination by first 6 class mail sent within 24 hours after the final date for the 7 determination. A candidate who is dissatisfied with the determi- 8 nation of the board of county election commissioners may file an 9 appeal in the circuit court of the county where the board is 10 located., and aA candidate who is dissatisfied with the 11 determination of the board of state canvassers may file an appeal 12 in the circuit court of Ingham county.,THE CANDIDATE SHALL 13 FILE AN APPEAL UNDER THIS SUBSECTION within 7 days after the 14 final date for determination by the board, and the court shall 15 hear the matter de novo. In case of the same surnames,ora 16 final determination by the board OF THE EXISTENCE OF SIMILARITY, 17 or A DETERMINATION by the court before the latest date on which 18 the board can arrange for printing of the ballots,of the 19 existence of similarity, the board shall print the occupation or 20 residence of each of the candidates on the ballot or ballot 21 labels under their respective names. The term "occupation" 22shall be construed to includeINCLUDES political office, even 23 though it is not the candidate's principal occupation, but 24shallDOES not include reference to a previous position or 25 occupation. 26 (4) The name of a candidate shall be printed showing the 27 given name or abbreviation or initials of the given name of the 02308'99 4 1 candidate., and, in the case of a married woman,IF THE 2 CANDIDATE IS MARRIED, THE NAME OF THE CANDIDATE shall not be 3 printed showing thehusband'sSPOUSE'S given name. 4 (5) The board of state canvassers shall prepare and issue 5 guidelines toinsureENSURE fairness and uniformity in the 6 granting of CLARIFYING designations, and may prepare and issue 7 guidelines relating to what constitutes same or similar 8 surnames. The board of state canvassers and the boards of county 9 election commissioners shall follow the guidelines issued. 10 Sec. 568. The official primary election ballots shall be 11 prepared in thefollowingform:PRESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION. 12 At the top of each ballot shall be printed in large type, 13 "Official primary election ballot". Underneath the heading shall 14 be printed the date of the election at which the ballot is to be 15 used, together with a designation of the political subdivision, 16asINCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO county, district, city, OR 17 ward,et cetera,in which it is to be used. Then shall follow, 18 in bold-faced type, the name of the political party and vignette, 19 below which shall appear the following instructions to electors: 20 "Make a cross or a check mark in the square to the left of not 21 more than the number of names for each office as may be indicated 22 under the title of each office. YOU MAY SPLIT YOUR TICKET BY 23 VOTING FOR NOT MORE THAN THE NUMBER OF NAMES INDICATED FOR AN 24 OFFICE UNDER 1 POLITICAL PARTY HEADING AND FOR NOT MORE THAN THE 25 NUMBER OF NAMES INDICATED FOR A DIFFERENT OFFICE UNDER ANOTHER 26 POLITICAL PARTY'S HEADING." Under this heading shall appear the 27 names of the candidates seeking nomination for various offices on 02308'99 5 1 the ticket of the political party. The order of the offices on 2 the ballot shall be the same, as near as may be, as is required 3 by law in making up the ballot used at general elections. The 4 title of the office shall be immediately above the names of the 5 candidate or candidates for the nomination of each office, and 6 under the title the words "Vote for not more than," followed by 7 the word "one" or "two" orsuchother wordas will designate8 THAT DESIGNATES the number of candidates for the nomination to 9 the office that may be voted for. The names of the different 10 candidates shall be separated from each other by a light-faced 11 rule with a square at the left of each name. The spaces devoted 12 to the candidates for nomination to different offices shall be 13 separated by a black-faced ruleso asIN ORDER to separate each 14 office division distinctly. However, the board of election com- 15 missioners in any county or city may, if considered desirable, 16 arrange the ballots with an identification numeral to be placed 17 in the same space with the name of each of the candidates, with 18 the identification numeral to be rotated with the name of the 19 candidate when rotated, regardless of where the name may appear 20 upon the ballot. 21 Sec. 570. Paper ballots shall be numbered consecutively and 22 identified by use of the words "official primary ballot" on the 23 upper right hand corner upon the front of the ballot with a per- 24 forated line across the corner and underneath the number and 25 identification so that the corner with the number and identifica- 26 tion may be torn off. The detachable corner stub shall serve for 27 the several party tickets and the ballot number shall be printed 02308'99 6 1 upon the stub on 1 side only. A political party designation 2 shall not appear upon a ballot corner so numbered and 3 identified. After the ballots are trimmed and wrapped in sealed 4 packages, they shall be distributed for use at the primary elec- 5 tion in the same manner as is now provided by law for the distri- 6 bution of ballots to be used at general elections. Ballots shall 7 be prepared in substantially the following form: 8 OFFICIAL PRIMARY BALLOT 9 No. ............ 10 OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOT 11 Primary election to be held ............ 19..... in the county 12 of ....................... . 13 ............... party. 14 (Vignette) 15 16 YoucannotMAY split your ticket.If youYOU MAY vote for 17 candidates FOR SEPARATE OFFICES on more than 1 party ticket., your18ballot will be rejected.19 Make a cross or a check mark in the square to the left of not more 20 than the number of names for each office as may be indicated under 21 the title of each office. 22 ================================================================= 23 State. Legislative. 24 _________________________________________________________________ 25 Governor. State Senator. 26 ................ District. 27 Vote for not more than one. Vote for not more than one. 02308'99 7 1 _________________________________________________________________ 2 [] 1 John Doe [] 7 John Doe 3 _________________________________________________________________ 4 [] 2 Richard Roe [] 8 Richard Roe 5 _________________________________________________________________ 6 [] [] 7 ================================================================= 8 Congressional. Representative in State 9 ________________________________ Legislature. 10 United States Senator...... ............ District. 11 Vote for not more than one. Vote for not more than one. 12 _________________________________________________________________ 13 [] 3 John Doe [] 9 John Doe 14 _________________________________________________________________ 15 [] 4 Richard Roe [] 10 Richard Roe 16 _________________________________________________________________ 17 [] [] 18 ================================================================= 19 Representative in Congress. County. 20 ................... District. Prosecuting Attorney. 21 Vote for not more than one. Vote for not more than one. 22 _________________________________________________________________ 23 [] 5 John Doe [] 11 John Doe 24 _________________________________________________________________ 25 [] 6 Richard Roe [] 12 Richard Roe 26 _________________________________________________________________ 27 [] [] 28 ================================================================= 29 Sec. 572. The OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION ballots shall be 30 prepared insuchA manner that the electorsof each political31partyAT THE PRIMARY may write, print, or paste the name of a 32 candidatethereonON A BALLOT. 33 Sec. 575. After the polls are opened at a primary election, 34anyAN elector who is legally registered and qualified, 35shall,before entering the booth or voting compartment, SHALL 36 be furnisheda party ballot, together with any other ballot or37 ALL ballots to be voted at that primary election. 38 Sec. 576. (1) An elector, after having receiveda ballot39orTHE OFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION ballots, shall enter a booth or 40 voting compartment and, while there concealed from view, shall 41 vote the ballot or ballots by making a cross or a check mark in 02308'99 8 1 the square at the left of the names of those candidates for whom 2 the elector desires to vote, butin no caseSHALL NOT VOTE for 3 more candidates for any office than is indicated under the title 4 of each office. However, an elector may vote for a person whose 5 name is not printed on the ballot by inserting the name in a 6 manner that will substitute it for any name that is printed on 7 the ballot or where no candidate's name appears upon the ballot. 8 (2)The elector shall indicate his or her choice of candi-9dates on 1 party ticket only and, afterAFTER marking the ballot 10 OR BALLOTS, the elector shall folditEACH BALLOT for deposit 11pursuant to the provisions ofAS PROVIDED IN this act.A12ballot on which more than 1 party ticket has been voted is void.13 (3) This section is subject to section 736a. 14 Sec. 795. (1) An electronic voting system acquired or used 15 pursuant to sections 794 to 799a shall meet all of the following 16 requirements: 17 (a) Provide for voting in secrecy, exceptin the case of18 FOR voters who receive assistance as provided by this act. 19 (b) Permit each elector to vote at an election for all per- 20 sons and offices for whom and for which the elector is lawfully 21 entitled to vote; to vote for as many persons for an office as 22 the elector is entitled to vote for; and to vote for or against 23 any question upon which the elector is entitled to vote. Except 24 as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the electronic tabu- 25 lating equipment shall reject all choices recorded on the 26 elector's ballot for an office or a question if the number of 27 choices exceeds the number that the elector is entitled to vote 02308'99 9 1 for on that office or question. Electronic tabulating equipment 2 that can detect and inform an elector voting in person that the 3 choices recorded on the elector's ballot for an office or a ques- 4 tion exceeds the number that the elector is entitled to vote for 5 on that office or question shall offer the elector an opportunity 6 to correct the error before rejecting the choices recorded on the 7 elector's ballot. 8 (c) Permit an elector, at a presidential election, by a 9 single selection to vote for the candidates of a party for presi- 10 dent, vice-president, and presidential electors. 11 (d) Permit an elector at other than a primary election to 12 vote for all of the candidates of a political party by a single 13 selectionorAND PERMIT AN ELECTOR AT ANY ELECTION to vote a 14 split or mixed ticket. 15 (e) Permit an elector in a primary election to vote for the 16 candidatesin the party primaryof the elector's choice. 17Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the electronic18tabulating equipment shall reject each ballot on which votes are19cast for candidates of more than 1 political party. Electronic20tabulating equipment that can detect and inform an elector voting21in person that the elector has voted for candidates of more than221 political party shall offer the elector an opportunity to cor-23rect the error before rejecting the elector's ballot.24 (f) Prevent an elector from voting for the same person more 25 than once for the same office. 02308'99 10 1 (g) Be suitably designed for the purpose used; be durably 2 constructed; and be designed to provide for safety, accuracy, and 3 efficiency. 4 (h)Beginning June 18, 1990, beBE designed to accommodate 5 the needs of an elderly voter or a person with 1 or more 6 disabilities. 7 (i) Record correctly and count accurately each vote properly 8 cast. 9 (j) Provide an audit trail. 10 (k) Provide an acceptable method for an elector to vote for 11 a person whose name does not appear on the ballot. 12 (2) Electronic tabulating equipment that counts votes at the 13 precinct before the close of the polls shall provide a method for 14 rendering the equipment inoperable if vote totals are revealed 15 before the close of the polls. 02308'99 Final page. 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