EARLY VOTING PROCEDURES S.B. 367 (S-1) & 368:
SUMMARY AS PASSED BY THE SENATE
Senate Bill 367 (Substitute S-1 as passed by the Senate)
Senate Bill 368 (as passed by the Senate)
Sponsor: Senator Jeremy Moss (S.B. 367)
Senator Ed McBroom (S.B. 368)
Committee: Elections and Ethics
Date Completed: 6-26-23
(COMPANION BILL LINK: H.B. 4696)
INTRODUCTION
The bills would codify provisions of Proposal 22-2 (see BACKGROUND) into the Michigan Election
Law. They would prescribe the process for implementing and administering the constitutionally
required nine consecutive days of early voting, for eight hours per day, for each statewide and
Federal election. They also would allow a municipality to set additional days and hours of early
voting beyond what is constitutionally required and to use early voting for elections that were not
statewide or Federal. In addition, they would allow more than one municipality to jointly conduct
early voting through a municipal agreement or a county agreement and prescribe the
requirements of those agreements. The bills would make disclosing an election result from an
early voting site before 8 PM on election day a felony.
Senate Bill 368 is tie-barred to Senate Bill 367.
BRIEF RATIONALE
Testimony before the Senate Committee on Elections and Ethics indicates that allowing voters
only one day to vote in-person places an undue burden on voters who deal with long lines and
wait times. In November 2022, Proposal 2 addressed these concerns by amending the State
Constitution to require nine days of early voting before election day for eight hours each day.
Accordingly, with the presidential primary occurring in February 2024, it has been suggested that
the Law be amended to further govern the implementation of early voting under Proposal 22-2.
BRIEF FISCAL IMPACT
The Department of State estimates the total implementation costs for early voting for Fiscal Years
(FYs) 2022-23 and 2023-24 at $45.4 million, with $9.5 million expended by the State and $36.0
million expended by local units of government. The Department estimates annual ongoing costs
to local units of government for FY 2024-25 at $10.0 million; however, these costs could increase
in subsequent years for several reasons, such the possible expansion of early voting to the
Monday before an election beginning January 1, 2026. Additionally, the requirement that the
appropriate clerk of a municipality or county would have to provide notifications to all electors
registered to vote in their jurisdiction upon approval of an early voting site would lead to an
increase in postage costs that would occur each election.
Because the guidelines added to the Code of Criminal Procedure would not be compulsory for the
sentencing judge and penalties for felony convictions vary, the fiscal impact of a Federal
conviction under Senate Bill 368 would depend on judicial decision.
MCL 168.662 et al. (S.B. 367) Legislative Analyst: Abby Schneider
777.11d (S.B. 368) Fiscal Analyst: Joe Carrasco, Jr.
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CONTENT
Senate Bill 367 (S-1) would amend the Michigan Election Law to do the following:
-- Require a municipality to provide nine consecutive days of early voting, for eight
hours per day, for every statewide and Federal election.
-- Require the Secretary of State (SOS) to supervise the implementation and
conduct of early voting and provide resources to county and municipal election
officials that prevented an elector from casting more than one ballot per election.
-- Require each municipality to provide at least one suitable early voting site for
each voting precinct located in the municipality.
-- Prescribe the types of buildings that could or could not be used as a polling place
or early voting site.
-- Require the appropriate clerk to provide a notice specifying the location of the
polling place or early voting site to each registered elector upon approval or
change of the site.
-- Allow the clerk of a municipality to set additional hours for early voting, add
additional days of early voting, and allow early voting for an election that was
not a statewide or Federal election, by resolution.
-- Establish the requirements and process for entering a municipal or county early
voting agreement.
-- Allow municipalities that conducted early voting for a presidential primary
election to enter into a municipal or county agreement by April 15 of that year.
-- Require a single municipality or participants in a municipal agreement to submit
to the appropriate county clerk an early voting plan.
-- Require a county clerk participating in a county agreement to prepare an early
voting plan.
-- Establish the requirements a clerk would have to fulfill while administering early
voting.
-- Prescribe security measures that election officials would have to follow,
including a requirement that the board of election inspectors secure both absent
voter ballots and tabulators used at an early voting site in a locked room and
building.
-- Exempt ballots used for early voting purposes that were produced by an on-
demand ballot printing system from certain requirements.
-- Require the SOS to issue instructions regarding ballots that were subject to
challenge and those produced by an on-demand ballot printing system.
-- Prohibit an individual from intentionally disclosing an election result from an
early voting site before 8 PM on election day and prescribe a felony penalty for
a violation of such.
Senate Bill 368 would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to add a felony penalty
for disclosing an election result from an early voting site before election day.
Senate Bill 367 (S-1)
Implementation of Early Voting
Under the bill, in accordance with Proposal 22-2's constitutional amendments, a registered
and qualified elector in the State would have the right to vote in person in each statewide and
Federal election at an early voting site before election day. An elector at an early voting site
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would have the same rights and would be subject to the same requirements as an elector at
a polling place on election day. (Under the bill, "early voting" means casting a ballot in person
before election day in the same manner as a ballot is cast on election day, including depositing
the ballot into a tabulator).
Under the bill, early voting would have to be provided in each statewide and Federal election
for at least nine consecutive days beginning on the second Saturday and ending on the Sunday
before the election. Early voting would have to be provided for at least eight hours each day
during the required days. Beginning January 1, 2026, early voting could be offered on the
Monday before an election but would have to end by 4PM.
The SOS would have to supervise the implementation and conduct of early voting required
under Article II of the State Constitution of 1963 to provide each elector an opportunity to
cast a ballot. For early voting required under Article II, the SOS would have to do all the
following:
-- Advise, direct, and issue instructions and procedures to county and municipal election
officials on the administration and conduct of early voting.
-- Develop, acquire, or approve new technology for the early voting poll book to implement,
administer, and conduct early voting efficiently and securely.
-- Create a model municipal agreement template and model county agreement template
and ensure that each template could be completed online by a county or municipality.
-- Create model early voting plan templates for municipalities and counties to complete
and ensure that each template could be electronically transmitted to the Bureau of
Elections.
-- Evaluate new voting system technology that produced ballots on demand or that could
be used to cast and tabulate early voting ballots, and, if appropriate, submit new
technology to the Board of State Canvassers for approval.
The SOS would have to provide resources to county and municipal election officials that
prevented an elector from intentionally or inadvertently casting more than one ballot at an
election. The resources required could be technological, procedural, or a combination of
both. In addition, the SOS would have to provide guidance to county and municipal election
officials regarding the process for securing equipment and ballots at the conclusion of each
day of early voting.
Early Voting Sites
Generally, the Michigan Election Law requires the legislative body in each city and township
to designate and prescribe the place or places of holding an election for a city, village, or
township election, and to provide a suitable polling place for each precinct located in the city
or township. Publicly owned or controlled buildings, such as schools and fire stations, must
be used as polling places. The bill would modify these provisions to require a legislative body
to provide a suitable polling place for each precinct located in a municipality for use on election
day. (Under the bill, "municipal" or "municipality" means a city or township).
Additionally, under the bill, the legislative body of a municipality would have to provide a
suitable early voting site for each precinct located in the municipality for each election for
which the municipality would conduct early voting: a Federal election, a statewide election,
and, by resolution, a municipal election. A publicly owned or controlled building would have
to be used as an early voting site, unless it was not possible.
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(As used above, "early voting site" would mean that term as described in Article II of the
State Constitution of 1963: A polling place subject to the same requirements as an election
day polling place, except that an early voting site may serve voters from more than six
precincts and may serve voters from more than one municipality within a county.)
The bill would delete provisions allowing the following to be used as a polling place, if a publicly
owned or controlled building is not found:
-- A building owned or controlled by an organization that is exempt from Federal income tax
as provided by certain sections of the Internal Revenue Code.
-- A for profit or nonprofit residence or facility in which 150 individuals or more aged 62 or
older reside or at an apartment building or complex in which 150 individuals or more reside.
-- If neither of the above were reasonably available or convenient to use, any privately owned
banquet or conference center or recreation clubhouse if the clerk of the city or township in
which that building is located obtained a signed affidavit from the owner or manager of the
building that certifies that he or she is not a sponsor of a political committee or independent
committee or is not a candidate for election.
The bill would specify that a building owned or leased by an elected official, an individual who
was a candidate up for election, or a person that was regulated under the Michigan Campaign
Finance Act could not be designated as a polling or early voting site. If such an individual
owned or leased a portion of a building, and that portion would not be located within 100 feet
from the entrance of the polling place or early voting site located inside the building, the
building could be used.
The legislative body of a city or township may not establish, move, or abolish a polling place
within 60 days of an election unless necessary because the site had been damaged, destroyed,
or rendered inaccessible or unusable for its intended purpose. The bill would apply this and
similar provisions to early voting sites and central polling places and allow a board of county
election commissioners to assume responsibilities related to polling places, early voting sites,
and central polling places in place of a municipal legislative body.
A city, township, or county could not use as a polling place, early voting site, or central polling
place a building that did not meet these requirements. For early voting sites, if a city or
township could not secure a building that met these requirements, that city or township would
have to enter into a municipal agreement or a county agreement (see Municipal and County
Agreements below).
The location and number of early voting sites would have to be selected by taking into
consideration expected turnout, population density, public transportation, accessibility, travel
time, traffic patterns, and any other factors that election officials considered necessary to
enhance site accessibility. The location of each early voting site would have to be finalized at
least 60 days before election day. On each day of early voting, each registered and qualified
elector present and in line at the early voting site at the hour prescribed for the closing of the
early voting site would have to be allowed to vote.
Notice Requirements
After a polling place or early voting site was approved, the appropriate clerk would have to
provide a notice specifying the location of the polling place or early voting site to each
registered elector entitled to vote at that polling place or early voting site. A city or township
clerk may provide notice by sending each elector his or her updated voter identification card or by
sending a separate notice by mail or other method designed to provide actual notice to the
registered elector. A city or township clerk could only use the latter method to notify electors
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of an approved early voting site. This notice would have to provide the site's hours of operation.
In addition to providing this required notice, the appropriate clerk would have to post a sign
indicating the new polling place location or early voting site at the location of the former polling
place location or early voting site.
This requirement would apply to permanent and temporary changes to polling places and early
voting sites. The notice would have to be provided at least 45 days before an election for a
polling place or early voting site established or changed 60 or more days before an election.
For temporary changes made to a polling place or early voting site, the notice would have to
be provided at least 21 days before an election for a polling place or before the first day of
early voting for an early voting site.
For temporary changes to a polling place within 20 days before an election or to an early voting
site within 20 days before the start of early voting, the appropriate clerk would have to provide
notice by posting a sign indicating the new polling place location or early voting site at the
location of the former place or site, on the municipality or county's website, and on the
Department of State's website.
Additional Early Voting
The bill would allow a clerk of a municipality to set additional hours for early voting on any of
the required nine consecutive days of early voting. The clerk also could offer early voting on
additional days beyond the required nine. The clerk of the municipality could set the hours
for those additional days of early voting without regard to the hours on the required days of
early voting. Additional days would have to take place within 29 days of an election.
The legislative body of a municipality could adopt a resolution to conduct early voting in an
election held in that municipality that was not a statewide or Federal election, and early voting
for that election would have to be conducted in accordance with the prior requirements, except
that the required nine consecutive days of early voting beginning on the second Saturday and
ending on the Sunday before the election, and the required minimum of eight hours of early
voting each day, would not apply.
The clerks of the municipalities participating in a municipal agreement could agree to jointly
offer early voting on additional days and for additional hours. The legislative body of a
municipality that was a party to a municipal agreement could adopt a resolution to conduct
early voting in an election to be held in the municipality that was not a statewide or Federal
election. If one or more municipalities in a municipal agreement wished to conduct early
voting in an election that was not a statewide or Federal election, they could do so jointly.
A county clerk and the legislative body of one or more municipalities could enter into an
agreement for the county clerk to conduct early voting in an election that was not a statewide
or Federal election. The legislative body of a municipality that was party to a county
agreement could adopt a resolution to conduct early voting in an election to be held in the
municipality that was not a statewide or Federal election.
Each early voting site in a municipality would have to be designated in the same manner as
polling places. Each elector registered in the municipality could engage in early voting at any
early voting site in that municipality. The Board of Election Commissioners of a municipality
would have to appoint election inspectors for each early voting site in that municipality.
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Early Voting in a Single Municipality
At least 150 days before the first regularly scheduled statewide or Federal election in an even
numbered year, the clerk of each municipality intending to conduct early voting as a single
municipality separate from any other municipality would have to notify the county clerk. That
municipal clerk would be responsible for administering early voting in that municipality and
providing electors with notice about the approval of and changes to early voting sites.
If a municipality had 250 or more precincts, each ballot form that contained identical offices
and names could be considered a separate precinct for purposes of early voting.
Early Voting for Multiple Municipalities
If a municipality did not wish to conduct early