CLERKS; VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDS                                              S.B. 277 (S-2):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                     REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 277 (Substitute S-2 as reported)

Sponsor:  Senator Michael D. MacDonald

Committee:  Elections

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Michigan Election Law to do the following:

-- Require the Secretary of State (SOS) to make canceled voter registration information available to county clerks.

-- Require a county clerk, at least once a month, and no later than the second business day of each month, to update the qualified voter file to cancel the voter registration of all individuals over the age of 18 who had died in the county.

-- Require city or township clerks to compare the list from a county clerk to the voter registration records in that city or township and cancel the voter registration of all deceased electors.

-- Require the SOS to send an electronic notification to the appropriate city or township clerk regarding each canceled voter registration in that city or township each time a county clerk updated the qualified voter file.

-- Require the SOS to notify each city or township clerk of any voter registration that needed to be canceled after 4 PM on the day before an election.

-- Prescribe timeframes by which a county clerk would have to carry out certain duties regarding voter registration records.

-- Require the SOS to post on the Department of State's website the total number of canceled voter registrations, broken down by year, month, county, city, and township.

MCL 168.509o & 168.510                                              Legislative Analyst:  Dana Adams

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill could have a negative fiscal impact on State and local government. The magnitude of the impact is indeterminate and would depend on a county's ability to comply with the requirement proposed in the bill. The proposed qualified voter file update and voter registration cancellation requirements could require counties to hire additional staff, depending on a county's administrative resource capabilities. The average total cost for salary, benefits, and retirement for a State civil servant is an estimated $121,600 Gross, $65,900 General Fund/General Purpose; however, these costs may vary widely between counties.

Additionally, the Department of State could incur costs to post the total number of voter registrations canceled on a monthly basis and for the electronic notification that would be sent to a city or township clerk notifying them of a canceled voter registration. Any additional costs likely would be absorbed within the Department's annual appropriations; however, if the Department needed to hire additional staff to comply with the bill, the costs per employee would be the same as those noted above.

Date Completed:  6-22-21                                                   Fiscal Analyst:  Joe Carrasco

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.