Legislative Analysis
PROPOSAL 2022-2 IMPLEMENTATION FOR EARLY VOTING; Phone: (517) 373-8080
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
TABULATE ABSENTEE BALLOTS BEFORE ELECTION DAY
Analysis available at
Senate Bill 367 (H-1) as adopted
http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Sponsor: Sen. Jeremy Moss
House Committee: Elections
Senate Committee: Elections and Ethics
Revised 8-15-23 (Enacted as Public Act 81 of 2023)
SUMMARY:
Ballot Proposal 22-2 amended the state constitution to grant Michigan voters the right to
participate in early voting for statewide and federal elections. Early voters have the same rights
and are subject to the same requirements as voters at polling places on election day. Each early
voting site must be open for nine consecutive days prior to an election, beginning on the second
Saturday before and election and ending on the Sunday before the election. Sites must be open
for at least eight hours for each of these nine days and can be open for additional days and
hours. Results cannot be generated or reported from a voting site until after 8:00 p.m. on
election day.
Senate Bill 367 would amend the Michigan Election Law to reflect these changes and to
implement early voting. It would also establish election day vote centers, allow absent voter
(AV) ballots to be tabulated on the day before election day and up to eight days before election
day in certain municipalities, and allow absent voters to insert their AV ballots into a tabulator
at their polling place or early voting site. The bill is tie-barred to House Bills 4697 1 and Senate
Bill 370, 2 meaning that it would not go into effect unless both of those bills were also enacted.
EARLY VOTING
Early voting rights
All registered and qualified voters in Michigan would have the right to vote in person at an
early voting site for each statewide and federal election. Early voters would have the same
rights, and would be subject to the same requirements, as voters at a polling place on election
day.
Early voting would have to be provided for each statewide and federal election for at least nine
consecutive days, beginning on the second Saturday before the election and ending on the
Sunday before the election, and early voting sites would have to be open for at least eight hours
per day during this period. Beginning January 1, 2026, early voting could be offered on the
Monday before an election as long as voting ends by 4:00 p.m.
1
House Bill 4697 would amend provisions of the Michigan Election Law that address absent voter drop boxes,
largely to incorporate changes made to the state constitution with the passage of Proposal 22-2. A summary of the
bill as passed by the House can be found here: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-
2024/billanalysis/House/pdf/2023-HLA-4697-F0496BCB.pdf.
2
Senate Bill 370 would also amend provisions of the Michigan Election Law to amend absent voting procedures
and to incorporate changes made to the state constitution by Proposal 22-2 regarding a permanent absent voter list.
A summary of the bill as reported from the House Elections committee can be found here:
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-2024/billanalysis/House/pdf/2023-HLA-0370-70780A62.pdf.
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 SOS implementation
The secretary of state (SOS) would be responsible for supervising the implementation and
conduct of early voting for state and federal elections. For early voting at these elections, the
SOS would have to do all of the following:
• Issue instructions and procedures to county and municipal election officials on the
administration and conduct of early voting.
• Advise and direct those election officials on conducting early voting.
• Develop, acquire, or approve new technology for the early voting poll book to
efficiently and securely implement, administer, and conduct early voting.
• Create a model municipal agreement template and model county agreement template.
• Ensure that each template can be completed online by a county or municipality.
• Create model early voting plan templates and model countywide early voting plan
templates for municipalities and counties, respectively.
• Ensure that each early voting plan template can be electronically transmitted to the
Bureau of Elections.
• Evaluate new voting system technology that produces ballots on demand or can be used
to cast and tabulate early voting ballots. (If appropriate, the SOS would be required to
submit the new technology to the Board of State Canvassers for approval.)
The SOS would have to provide resources to county and municipal election officials that
prevent an elector from intentionally or inadvertently casting multiple ballots at an election by
any method or at any location. These resources could be technological, procedural, or both.
The SOS would also have to provide guidance to election officials regarding the process of
securing equipment and ballots at the end of each day of early voting.
Ballots printed on demand
The requirement to compare a ballot number with the poll list would not apply to a ballot used
for early voting that is produced by an on-demand ballot printing system. Ballots produced by
an on-demand printing system for early voting would also be exempted from other provisions
of the Michigan Election Law pertaining to ballot stubs and numbering requirements.
The SOS would have to issue instructions regarding ballots produced by an on-demand printing
system and that are subject to challenge.
Local administration
To administer early voting, each municipality would have to either conduct early voting as a
single and separate municipality, enter into a municipal agreement to jointly conduct early
voting with one or more other municipalities located in whole or in part in the same county, or
enter into a county agreement authorizing the county clerk to conduct early voting.
At least 155 days before the first regularly scheduled statewide or federal election in an even-
numbered year, each county clerk would have to notify each municipal clerk in that county of
whether the county clerk intends to conduct early voting in accordance with a county
agreement. At least 150 days before that election, each municipal clerk would have to notify
the county clerk of how the municipality intends to conduct early voting (as a single
municipality, under a municipal agreement, or under a county agreement). Municipal and
county agreements would have to be finalized and signed by the appropriate municipal clerks
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 at least 125 days before the election. Agreements for special statewide or federal elections
would have to be finalized and signed at least 90 days before the special election.
However, if a municipality conducted early voting as a single municipality for a presidential
primary election, it could enter into a municipal or county agreement for the remaining
statewide and federal elections to be held in that year, elections held during the following year,
and any other elections covered by the agreement. Such a municipality could enter an
agreement until April 15 of the year of the presidential primary either through an amendment
to an existing agreement that was in effect for the presidential primary, if all parties to that
agreement agree, or through a new agreement.
Single municipality early voting
If a municipal clerk does not enter into a municipal or county agreement, then that clerk would
be responsible for administering early voting in that municipality. Each municipality would
have to have at least one early voting site for a federal and statewide election. Municipal clerks
could set additional hours for voting beyond the required days and times that take place on or
after the 29th day before an election. 3
Each early voting site would have to be designated in the same manner as polling places (as
described below), and each elector registered in that municipality could participate in early
voting at any early voting site in the municipality.
The municipality’s board of election commissioners would have to appoint election inspectors
for each early voting site.
Early voting could be approved for a local election by a resolution of the municipality’s
legislative body and would have to be held in accordance with all requirements for statewide
and federal elections, except for the nine-day and eight-hour minimums.
If a municipality has 250 or more precincts, each ballot form that contains identical offices and
names could be considered a separate precinct for the purposes of early voting
The municipal clerk would have to provide either of the following configuration sets for each
early voting site:
• A single configuration set that is programmed to tabulate ballots for all precincts in the
municipality.
• Multiple configuration sets that are each programmed to tabulate ballots for a unique
set of precincts in the municipality and that do not include a precinct on multiple
configuration sets.
Municipal agreements
For each federal and statewide election, there would have to be at least one early voting site
that is open to all registered electors of each municipality that participates in a municipal
agreement. Participating clerks could also agree to jointly offer early voting on additional days
for up to 29 days before an election without being subject to the eight-hour minimum.
3
Early voting sites that are open for days beyond the nine-day minimum would not be subject to the eight-hour
requirement, and municipal clerks would be responsible for setting the site’s hours on those days.
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 A municipal agreement would cover all statewide and federal elections, and any other elections
included in the agreement, for at least the entire election year in which a general election is
held and for the year following that election. An agreement could provide that it has no fixed
termination date.
A municipality could withdraw from an agreement after providing 30 days’ written notice to
the other parties, but a municipality could not withdraw during the 150 days before the first
statewide general election in an even-numbered year and before the completion of the county
canvass for that election. If a municipality withdraws from an agreement, it would have to
conduct early voting as a single municipality, as described above.
The clerks of participating municipalities would have to appoint a municipal clerk or staff
member of a municipal clerk to serve as a coordinator who will organize and monitor the
administrative requirements of early voting. The coordinator would be responsible for
providing oversight to ensure that sufficient resources are available and dispatched to each
early voting site, developing the early voting plan and budget for each election, and submitting
each early voting site to the appropriate municipal legislative body or bodies for approval.
A participating clerk would also have to be designated to download the early poll book, and a
clerk would also have to be appointed as a supervisor for each day of early voting. All
participating clerks would have to recruit election inspectors, upon the coordinator’s request,
or provide the coordinator with the list of inspectors for their municipality. A board of election
commissioners of a participating municipality would be responsible for appointing election
inspectors for early voting.
Supervising clerks at early voting sites would have to operate in the same manner as at an
election day polling place. Supervisor duties could be delegated to a staff member of the
supervisor.
A municipal agreement would have to include the following information, in addition to any
other provisions that the SOS could require:
• The name of each municipality that is a party to the agreement.
• The number of precincts in each participating municipality.
• The name of the coordinator organizing and monitoring the administrative
requirements of early voting for the municipalities.
• The process for approving early voting sites by municipal legislative bodies.
• The board of election commissioners that will be responsible for appointing election
inspectors for each early voting site.
• The process for approving early voting hours for the required nine consecutive days of
early voting and for approving any additional days and hours of voting.
• The communication strategy for informing electors of the opportunity for early voting
and publicizing the location, dates, and hours of operation of each early voting site.
• The process to ensure the SOS has the information necessary to include the location,
dates, and hours of operation of each early voting site on its website.
• The process for developing the early voting budget and cost-sharing procedures.
• The process for determining the number of tabulators and early voting poll books
necessary at each voting site.
• The name of each municipality that will provide the tabulators and poll books.
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 • The board of election commissioners that will be responsible for testing the electronic
voting equipment.
• The name of the clerk who will be responsible for downloading the early voting poll
book.
• The supervision and staffing of each early voting site for each day of early voting.
• Information on how a receiving board or a group of election inspectors will be
appointed to canvass the early vote returns on election day and report results to the
county clerk.
• The process for a participating municipality to withdraw from the agreement.
The legislative body of a participating municipality could adopt a resolution to conduct early
voting in that municipality for a local election, in accordance with the requirements for single-
municipality voting described above. Municipal legislative bodies could also agree to jointly
conduct early voting for a local election in accordance with a municipal agreement. Early
voting for local elections under a municipal agreement would have to be conducted in
accordance with the above requirements for municipal agreements but would not be subject to
the nine-day and eight-hour minimums. A municipality could not withdraw from a municipal
agreement covering local elections during the 150 days before that election and before the
completion of the county canvass.
The municipal agreement would have to provide either of the following configuration sets for
each early voting site:
• A single configuration set that is programmed to tabulate ballots for all precincts in
each participating municipality.
• Multiple configuration sets with each tabulator programmed to tabulate ballots for one
or more municipalities and that do not include a precinct on multiple configuration sets.
County agreements
For each federal and statewide election, there would have to be at least one early voting site
that is open to all registered electors of each municipality that participates in a county
agreement. The county clerk could also offer early voting on additional days for up to 29 days
before an election without being subject to the eight-hour minimum.
A county agreement would cover all statewide and federal elections, and any other elections
included in the agreement, for at least the entire election year in which a general election is
held and for the year following that election. An agreement could provide that it has no fixed
termination date.
A municipality partially or wholly located in a county could join an agreement for that county.
A party to a county agreement could withdraw from an agreement after providing 30 days’
written notice to the other parties, but a party could not withdraw during the 150 days before
the first statewide general election in an even-numbered year and before the completion of the
county canvass for that election.
The county clerk would have to appoint a clerk or staff member of a clerk to serve as a
coordinator who will organize and monitor the administrative requirements of early voting.
The coordinator would be responsible for providing oversight to ensure that sufficient
resources are available and dispatched to each early voting site, developing the early voting
plan in consultation with participating municipal clerk.
House Fiscal Agency SB 367 (H-1) a