HOUSE BILL No. 5789

 

September 10, 2014, Introduced by Rep. Hobbs and referred to the Committee on Elections and Ethics.

 

     A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled

 

"Michigan election law,"

 

by amending sections 491, 497, and 497a (MCL 168.491, 168.497, and

 

168.497a), sections 491 and 497 as amended by 1989 PA 142 and

 

section 497a as amended by 1986 PA 220, and by adding section 499e.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 491. The board of election inspectors of election at an

 

election or primary election in this state, or in a district,

 

county, township, city, or village in this state, shall not receive

 

the vote of a person whose name is not registered in the

 

registration book or listed on the computer voter registration

 

precinct list of the township, ward, or precinct in which he or she

 

offers to vote unless the person has met the requirements of

 


section 507b or has registered to vote at the polling place on the

 

day of the election as provided in section 499e.

 

     Sec. 497. (1) A person who is not registered to vote but

 

possesses meets the qualifications of an elector as set forth

 

provided in section 492 , may apply for registration to the clerk

 

of the county, township, city, or village in which he or she

 

resides on a day other than Saturday, Sunday, or a legal holiday. ,

 

or the day of a regular, primary, school, or special election.

 

Registrations accepted between the thirtieth day preceding before

 

an election and the day of before the election, unless the

 

thirtieth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, in

 

which event registration shall be accepted during the following

 

day, are not valid for the election but are valid for a subsequent

 

regular, primary, school, or special elections that are election

 

that is held so that not less more than 30 days intervene between

 

after the date the person registered. and the date of the election.

 

A person who is not registered to vote but meets the qualifications

 

of an elector as provided in section 492 may apply for registration

 

to the clerk of the township, city, or village, or authorized

 

assistant to the clerk at the polling place on the day of an

 

election as provided in section 499e. A registration accepted at

 

the polling place on the day of an election is valid for that

 

election and all subsequent elections.

 

     (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section and sections

 

499a to 499c 499e, 500a to 500j, and 504, 509v, an application for

 

registration shall not be executed at a place other than the office

 

of the county, township, city, or village clerk or a public place

 


or places designated by the clerk or deputy registrar for receiving

 

registrations. , but the However, a clerk or deputy registrar

 

assistant clerk may receive an application wherever he or she may

 

be. If a county, township, city, or village clerk does not

 

regularly keep his or her office open daily during certain hours,

 

the clerk shall is not be required to be at his or her office for

 

the purpose of receiving applications for registration on a

 

particular day nor during specific hours of a day, except as

 

provided in section 498. Registrations A registration taken after

 

the time of closing registrations before an election need not be

 

processed until the date immediately following that election . A

 

registration and shall not be placed in a precinct registration

 

file until the date immediately following that election. If a

 

person registers at a time that registrations are closed for an

 

election, the person shall be given a notice, signed by the clerk,

 

on a form developed by the secretary of state, informing him or her

 

that, unless the person registers at the polling place on the day

 

of the election, he or she is not eligible to vote in the election

 

and indicating the first date on which he or she is eligible to

 

vote. Except as provided in sections 500a to 500j, the provisions

 

of this section relating to registration shall apply.

 

     Sec. 497a. The 30-day limitation contained in section 497

 

shall does not apply to a second school millage election allowable

 

under section 36(3) of the general property tax act, Act No. 206 of

 

the Public Acts of 1893, as amended, being section 211.36 of the

 

Michigan Compiled Laws, or to a first school millage election held

 

under section 36(2) during calendar year 1986 if a school

 


district's operating revenue is less than the total operating

 

revenue for the previous school year. 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.36. For

 

those elections, a registration taken on the days intervening

 

accepted between the tenth day preceding before the election and

 

the day of before the election shall is not be valid for that

 

election but shall be is valid for a subsequent regular, primary,

 

or special election of the district. A person may register at the

 

polling place on the day of the election as provided in section

 

499e.

 

     Sec. 499e. (1) The clerk of a city, township, or village shall

 

be present or have an assistant clerk be present at a polling place

 

at all times the polling place is open on the day of an election

 

held under this act. The clerk or assistant clerk shall receive

 

applications for registration as provided in this section.

 

     (2) In addition to all other rights to registration under this

 

chapter, an elector entitled to registration in an election

 

precinct may become registered in the precinct by applying in

 

person to a clerk or assistant clerk at the polling place on the

 

day of an election. The elector shall execute in duplicate a

 

registration sworn statement and swear to and sign the sworn

 

statement in the presence of the clerk or assistant clerk.

 

     (3) The clerk or assistant clerk shall require the applicant

 

for registration to answer under oath a question concerning the

 

elector's qualification as an elector. The clerk or assistant clerk

 

may administer oaths and swear persons as to the truth of

 

statements contained in registration sworn statements. The clerk

 

may employ and swear an interpreter to interpret all questions put

 


to an applicant and the answers to those questions. If the

 

applicant, in answer to a question or in the registration sworn

 

statement, knowingly makes a material statement that is false, the

 

applicant is guilty of a misdemeanor.

 

     (4) If the applicant is entitled to registration, the clerk or

 

assistant clerk shall personally sign and note on the registration

 

sworn statement the acceptance of the registration. If the

 

registration is refused, the clerk or assistant clerk shall destroy

 

the applicant's registration sworn statement. The clerk or

 

assistant clerk shall not accept a fee from an elector applying for

 

registration, either for the registering of the elector or for the

 

taking of the acknowledgment on the sworn statement. A clerk or

 

assistant clerk who accepts a fee is guilty of a misdemeanor.

 

     (5) Immediately after approving an application for

 

registration under subsection (4), the clerk or assistant clerk

 

shall prepare a registration card or an insert to a registration

 

list in a form prescribed by the secretary of state. The clerk or

 

assistant clerk shall have the registration card or insert to a

 

registration list transferred to the board of election inspectors

 

at the polling place to allow the newly registered elector to apply

 

to vote as provided in section 523.

 

     (6) The clerk shall prepare and send a voter identification

 

card in the manner prescribed for corrected voter identification

 

cards in section 499 as soon as practical after the election.