PROCEDURES FOR ABSENTEE VOTING

BY MILITARY AND OTHER OVERSEAS VOTERS

House Bill 4481

Sponsor:  Rep. Edward Gaffney, Jr.

Committee:  House Oversight, Elections, and Ethics

Complete to 4-11-05

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4481 AS INTRODUCED 3-10-05

House Bill 4481 would amend the Michigan Election Law to make absentee voting easier for those electors who are members or employees of the armed services and other citizens temporarily residing oversees and who apply to vote as absentee voters by federal postcard.  Under the bill, the Bureau of Elections in the Department of State would be responsible for disseminating information on the procedures for registering and voting to absent armed services and overseas votes.

The bill specifies that an elector who applied to vote as an absentee voter by federal postcard application would be eligible to vote in any election that occurred within the calendar year in which the application had been received by the city, village, or township clerk.  However, the elector could not vote in an election if the application had been received by the clerk after the 2 p.m. deadline on the Saturday before the election.

The bill also would require a city or township clerk who received a federal postcard application to transmit to a village clerk and school district election coordinator, where applicable, the necessary information to enable those election officials to forward an absent voter ballot for each applicable election in that calendar year.  If the local elections officials rejected a registration or absent voter ballot application submitted on a federal postcard application, then the officials would be required to notify the armed services or the overseas voter of the rejection.

MCL 168.759a   

FISCAL IMPACT:

The bill would have no fiscal impact on the state.  Local units of government would experience an indeterminate increase in costs due to the requirement of forwarding absent voter ballots to absent voters who are eligible.

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   J. Hunault

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Robin Risko

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.