SENATE BILL NO. 402

A bill to create a voting and elections database and institute; to provide for the powers and duties of certain state and local governmental officers and entities; and to provide remedies.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 1. This act may be cited as the "voting and elections database and institute act".

Sec. 3. As used in this act:

(a) "Database and institute" means the Michigan voting and elections database and institute created in section 5(1).

(b) "Local government" means a county, city, township, or any other political subdivision of this state that conducts an election.

Sec. 5. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no later than November 5, 2025, the secretary of state shall enter into an agreement with 1 or more universities in this state to create the Michigan voting and elections database and institute to maintain and administer a central repository of elections and voting data available to the public from all local governments in this state and to foster, pursue, and sponsor research on existing laws and best practices in voting and elections. If the secretary of state fails to enter into an agreement as required under this subsection by November 5, 2025, the secretary of state shall be solely responsible for creating, maintaining, and administering the Michigan voting and elections database and institute.

(2) The database and institute shall provide a center for research, training, and information on voting systems and election administration. The database and institute may do any of the following:

(a) Conduct classes both for credit and noncredit.

(b) Organize interdisciplinary groups of scholars to research voting and elections in this state.

(c) Conduct seminars involving voting and elections.

(d) Establish a nonpartisan centralized database in order to collect, archive, and make publicly available at no cost an accessible database pertaining to elections, voter registration, and ballot access in this state.

(e) Assist in the dissemination of election data to the public.

(f) Publish books and periodicals as the database and institute considers appropriate on voting and elections in this state.

(g) Provide nonpartisan technical assistance to local governments, scholars, and the general public seeking to use the resources of the database and institute.

(3) If the secretary of state enters into an agreement with 1 or more universities as provided under subsection (1), the parties to that agreement shall enter into a memorandum of understanding that includes the process for selecting the director of the database and institute. If the secretary of state fails to enter into an agreement as provided under subsection (1), the secretary of state shall appoint the director of the database and institute.

(4) The database and institute shall maintain in an electronic format and make available all relevant election and voting data and records for at least the previous 12-year period. Except for any data, information, or estimates that identify individual electors, the data, information, and estimates maintained by the database and institute must be posted on the department of state's website and made available to the public at no cost. Maps, election day polling places, and absent voter ballot drop box locations must be made available in a geospatial file format. The database and institute shall prepare any estimates made under this section by applying the most advanced, peer-reviewed, and validated methodologies available. The data and records that must be maintained include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(a) Estimates of the total population, voting age population, and citizen voting age population by racial, color, or language minority group and disability status, broken down to the precinct level, on a year-by-year basis, for every local government in this state, based on data from the United States Census Bureau, American Community Survey, or data of comparable quality collected by a public office.

(b) Election results at the precinct level for every federal, state, and local election held in every local government in this state.

(c) Contemporaneous voter registration lists, voter history files, election day polling places, and absent voter ballot drop box locations for every election in every local government in this state.

(d) Contemporaneous maps or other documentation of the configuration of precincts.

(e) Election day polling places, including, but not limited to, lists of precincts assigned to each polling place, if applicable.

(f) Adopted districting or redistricting plans for every election in every local government in this state.

(g) Any other data that the director of the database and institute considers necessary to maintain in furtherance of the purposes of the database and institute.

(5) The data, information, and estimates maintained by the database and institute may be relied on as evidence.

(6) All state agencies and local governments shall timely provide the director of the database and institute with any information requested by the director of the database and institute. No later than 90 days after an election, each local government shall transmit to the database and institute copies of all of the following:

(a) Election results at the precinct level.

(b) Contemporaneous voter registration lists.

(c) Voter history files.

(d) Maps, descriptions, and shapefiles for election districts.

(e) Lists of election day polling places, shapefiles, or descriptions of the precincts assigned to each election day polling place.

(f) Any other publicly available data as requested by the database and institute.

(7) The attorney general, the director of the database and institute, or a designee of the attorney general or director may file an action to enforce compliance with this section.

(8) No later than 90 days following the end of each state fiscal year, the database and institute shall publish a report on the priorities and finances of the database and institute.

(9) Subsections (2) to (8) take effect May 5, 2026.

Enacting section 1. This act does not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 401 of the 102nd Legislature is enacted into law.