January 27, 2005, Introduced by Rep. Mayes and referred to the Committee on House Oversight, Elections and Ethics.
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending section 726 (MCL 168.726) and by adding sections 38,
726a, and 726b.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 38. (1) After the effective date of the amendatory act
that added this section and before January 1, 2010, in preparation
for the authorization under section 726a to conduct elections by
mail, the secretary of state shall conduct an election by mail
pilot project in compliance with this section.
(2) In cooperation with local governmental units and in
accordance with all of the following criteria, the secretary of
state shall select either 6 or 8 local governmental units in which
to hold pilot project elections by mail:
(a) The jurisdictions shall have a substantial variance in the
sizes of their populations.
(b) The jurisdictions shall be evenly divided between
jurisdictions whose electors at the 2004 presidential election cast
the majority of their votes for the candidate receiving the highest
number of popular votes and the candidate receiving the second
highest number.
(c) Each jurisdiction shall be anticipating an election at
which an elector's only choice on the ballot is a single, contested
office or a single ballot question.
(3) With the assistance of the election officials for each
local governmental unit selected under subsection (2), the
secretary of state shall conduct an election by mail in each of
those jurisdictions. A local election official shall cooperate with
the secretary of state in the conduct of a pilot project election
by mail.
(4) A pilot project election by mail shall be conducted in
compliance with section 726b. During the pilot project, an election
shall be held as an election by mail only for an election at which
an elector's only choice on the ballot is a single, contested
office or a single ballot question. If, after a local governmental
unit is selected under subsection (2), the secretary of state
determines that the election described in subsection (2)(c) is
unlikely to occur, the secretary of state shall select a
replacement local governmental unit in accordance with the criteria
in subsection (2).
(5) Before January 15, 2010, the secretary of state shall
submit a report on the election by mail pilot project to the
standing committees of the senate and the house of representatives
with primary responsibility for election issues. The secretary of
state shall include all of the following in the report:
(a) The cost of each election by mail with a comparison to the
cost of a substantially similar election held in the same local
governmental unit.
(b) The level of voter participation in each election by mail
with a comparison to the level of voter participation in a
substantially similar election held in the same local governmental
unit.
(c) Other information the secretary of state considers
relevant.
(6) As used in this section, "local governmental unit" means a
city, village, or township for which an accurate count of the votes
cast in the 2004 presidential election exists in local or state
records.
Sec.
726. No ballots A ballot shall
not be delivered to an
elector
by any a person other than 1 of the inspectors of an
election inspector and only within the polling place, except as
provided
in this act for an absent voters' ballots voter or an
election by mail ballot.
Sec. 726a. (1) After December 31, 2009, a local governmental
unit's or school district's governing body may decide that an
election to be held in that local governmental unit or school
district be held as an election by mail. If an election is held in
only 1 local governmental unit or school district and, at least 63
days before the date of the election, the local governmental unit's
clerk or school district's secretary of the school board receives
notice of the governing body's decision that an election be held as
an election by mail, the clerk or secretary shall conduct that
election as an election by mail in compliance with section 726b. If
an election is held in more than 1 local governmental unit or
school district and, at least 63 days before the date of an
election, the governing body of every local governmental unit or
school district in which the election is to be held notifies its
clerk or secretary of the school board of the governing body's
decision that the election be held as an election by mail, the
election shall be conducted as an election by mail in compliance
with section 726b.
(2) The secretary of state shall cooperate with each local
governmental unit or school district that conducts an election by
mail as authorized under subsection (1). To the extent possible,
the secretary of state shall advise and assist a local governmental
unit or school district in conducting an election by mail.
(3) After December 31, 2009, at his or her discretion, the
secretary of state may conduct 1 or more of the following elections
as an election by mail in compliance with section 726b:
(a) An August primary held under section 534.
(b) A general November election.
(c) An election in which a candidate for state or federal
office or for the office of supreme court justice or judge of the
court of appeals is nominated or elected.
(d) A statewide special election.
(4) An elector may obtain a replacement ballot for an election
by mail ballot that is not received or is lost, destroyed, or
spoiled. The elector shall submit to the election official
responsible for issuing the election by mail ballot a statement
with the elector's signature certifying that the ballot was not
received or was lost, destroyed, or spoiled. An election official
who receives the certified statement before 8 p.m. of the election
date shall issue the elector another ballot and make and maintain a
record of that act. If a replacement ballot is issued more than 4
days before the election date, an election official may mail the
replacement ballot. If an elector returns a spoiled ballot, the
election official shall write the word "spoiled" on the face of the
ballot and proceed as provided in this act for spoiled ballots.
Sec. 726b. (1) An election official conducting an election by
mail shall conduct the election in compliance with this section.
The election official conducting an election by mail shall
designate 1 or more locations to which an elector may return the
elector's election by mail ballot on the election date. Each
location designated under this subsection shall be open to receive
ballots from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the election date.
(2) An elector who wants to vote in an election by mail shall
comply with the instructions supplied with the official ballot,
returning the election by mail ballot through the United States
mail or another public postal service, express mail service, parcel
post service, or common carrier or, on the election date, to a
location designated under subsection (1).
(3) A ballot arriving at the address on the ballot return
envelope or at a location designated under subsection (1) after 8
p.m. on the election date shall not be counted. If, for an election
by mail, an elector applies for, receives, and returns an absent
voter ballot in compliance with this act, the election official
conducting an election by mail shall consider that absent voter
ballot to be valid for the election by mail.
(4) Not before 21 days or after 14 days before the election,
an election official conducting an election by mail shall send by
nonforwardable mail to each elector who, 30 or more days before the
election, was registered to vote in that jurisdiction all of the
following:
(a) An official ballot.
(b) A preaddressed, return envelope.
(c) A secrecy envelope or sleeve.
(d) Instructions for voting in the election by mail. To the
extent applicable, the instructions for an election by mail shall
conform to the instructions and warnings prescribed by this act for
an absent voter ballot.
(5) If the secretary of state conducts an election by mail as
authorized in section 726a, the secretary of state may determine
that it is prudent to begin mailing the material listed in
subsection (4) on a date before 21 days before the election.
(6) To the extent not in conflict with this section, an
election by mail shall be conducted in the manner provided for
other elections under this act. An election official shall not
count an election by mail ballot unless the ballot is returned in
an election by mail return envelope that is signed by the elector
whose signature is verified as a qualified and registered voter as
provided in this act.