Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

HOUSE BILL NO. 4762
     June 15, 2023, Introduced by Reps. Smit, Fox, DeSana and Friske and referred to the Committee
        on Elections.
          A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
    "Michigan election law,"
    by amending sections 662 and 668b (MCL 168.662 and 168.668b),
    section 662 as amended by 2022 PA 219 and section 668b as added by
PA 614, and by adding sections 720a, 720b, 720c, 720d, 720e,
    720f, 720g, 720h, 720i, and 720j.
                     THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
       Sec. 662. (1) The legislative body in each city and township,
 or a board of county election commissioners as provided under
 section 720g, shall designate and prescribe the place or places of
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 holding an election for a city, village, or township election, and
 shall provide a suitable polling place in or early voting site for
 each precinct located in the city or township for use at each
 election. Except as otherwise provided in this section, school
 buildings, fire stations, police stations, and other publicly owned
 or controlled buildings must be used as polling places.a publicly
 owned or controlled building, including, but not limited to, a
 municipal building or school building, must be used as a polling
 place or early voting site unless it is not possible or convenient
 to use a publicly owned or controlled building as a polling place
 or early voting site.
       (2) Subject to this subsection, if it is not possible or
 convenient to use a publicly owned or controlled building as a
 polling place as described in subsection (1), the legislative body
 of the city or township, or a board of county election
 commissioners as provided under section 720g, may use as a polling
 place a building owned or controlled by an organization that is
 exempt from federal income tax as provided by section 501(c), other
 than 501(c)(4), (5), or (6), of the internal revenue code of 1986,
 26 USC 501. The legislative body of a city or township, or a board
 of county election commissioners as provided under section 720g,
 shall not designate as a polling place or early voting site a
 building as described in this subsection that is owned or leased by
 a person that is a sponsor of a political committee or independent
 committee or that is owned by an individual who is a candidate.
       (3) The legislative body of a city or township, or a board of
 county election commissioners as provided under section 720g, may
 establish a polling place at a for profit or nonprofit residence or
 facility in which 150 individuals or more aged 62 or older reside
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 or at an apartment building or complex in which 150 individuals or
 more reside.
       (4) Subject to this subsection, if a suitable polling place as
 described in subsections (1), (2), and (3) is not reasonably
 available for use or convenient to use, the legislative body of a
 city or township, or a board of county election commissioners as
 provided under section 720g, may establish a polling place at any
 privately owned banquet or conference center or recreation
 clubhouse. The legislative body of a city or township, or a board
 of county election commissioners as provided under section 720g,
 shall not designate as a polling place a building described in this
 subsection that is owned by a person that is a sponsor of a
 political committee or independent committee or that is owned by an
 individual who is a candidate. Before a building that is not
 publicly owned or controlled as described in this subsection is
 designated as a polling place by a county, city, or township, the
 clerk of the county, city, or township in which that building is
 located must obtain a signed affidavit from the owner or manager of
 the building that certifies that the owner of the building is not a
 person that is a sponsor of a political committee or independent
 committee or is not an individual who is a candidate.
       (5) The Except as otherwise provided in section 4(1)(m) of
 article II of the state constitution of 1963 for early voting, the
 legislative body in each city or township may establish a central
 polling place or central polling places for 6 precincts or less if
 it is possible and convenient for the electors to vote at the a
 central polling place or at central polling places and if it will
 not result in significantly increased travel times or delays for
 electors in the voting process. The legislative body in each city
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 or township may abolish other polling places not required as a
 result of the establishment of a central polling place or central
 polling places.
       (6) A township board may provide polling places or early
 voting sites located within the limits of a city that has been
 incorporated from territory formerly a part of the township, and
 the electors of the township may cast their ballots at those
 polling places or early voting sites. If 2 contiguous townships
 utilize a combined township hall or other publicly owned or
 controlled building within 1 of the township's boundaries and
 outside of the other township's boundaries, and there is not
 another publicly owned or controlled building or a building owned
 or controlled by an organization that is exempt from federal income
 tax, as provided by section 501(c), other than 501(c)(4), (5), or
 (6), of the internal revenue code of 1986, 26 USC 501, available or
 suitable for a polling place or early voting site within the other
 township, then each township board may provide a polling place or
 early voting site in that publicly owned building for 1 or more
 election precinct.
       (7) A city or township, or a county as provided under section
 720g, shall not use as a polling place, early voting site, or
 central polling place a building that does not meet the
 requirements of this section.
       (8) The legislative body of a city or township, or a board of
 county election commissioners as provided under section 720g, shall
 not establish, move, or abolish a polling place, early voting site,
 or central polling place less than 60 days before an election
 unless necessary because a polling place, early voting site, or
 central polling place has been damaged, destroyed, or rendered
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 inaccessible or unusable as a polling place, early voting site, or
 central polling place.
       (9) The legislative body of a city or township, or a board of
 county election commissioners as provided under section 720g, shall
 ensure that a polling place, early voting site, or central polling
 place established under this section is accessible and complies
 with the voting accessibility for the elderly and handicapped act
 and the help America vote act of 2002.
       (10) As used in this section:
       (a) "Accessible" means the removal or modification of
 policies, practices, and procedures that deny an individual with a
 disability the opportunity to vote, including the removal of
 physical barriers as identified in section 261(b) of the help
 America vote act of 2002, 52 USC 21021, so as to ensure individuals
 with disabilities the opportunity to participate in elections in
 this state.
       (b) "Candidate" means that term as defined in section 3 of the
 Michigan campaign finance act, 1976 PA 388, MCL 169.203.
       (c) "Central polling place" means the place where an elector
 marks and casts the elector's ballot on election day.
       (d) "Early voting site" means that term as described in
 section 4(1)(m) of article II of the state constitution of 1963.
       (e) (c) "Sponsor of a political committee or independent
 committee" means a person that is described as being a sponsor
 under section 24(3) of the Michigan campaign finance act, 1976 PA
 388, MCL 169.224, and includes a subsidiary of a corporation or a
 local of a labor organization, if the corporation or labor
 organization is considered a sponsor under section 24(3) of the
 Michigan campaign finance act, 1976 PA 388, MCL 169.224.
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       Sec. 668b. (1) Each Subject to subsection (4), each city or
 township shall use the electronic poll book software developed by
 the bureau of elections in each election precinct in the city or
 township on election day to process voters and generate election
 precinct reports.
       (2) Except Subject to subsection (4) and except as otherwise
 provided in subsection (3), after 4 p.m. on the day before an
 election, each city or township clerk shall download the electronic
 poll book software from the qualified voter file software.
       (3) In Subject to subsection (4), in a city or township with
 more than 50 election precincts, the city or township clerk may
 begin downloading the electronic poll book software from the
 qualified voter file software after 2 p.m. on the Saturday before
 an election. If a city or township clerk downloads the electronic
 poll book software from the qualified voter file software before 4
 p.m. on the day before an election as provided in this subsection,
 the city or township clerk must provide a supplemental absent voter
 list to each election precinct before the polls open on election
 day that captures any absent voter activity in the city or township
 between 2 p.m. on the Saturday before the election and 4 p.m. on
 the Monday before the election.
       (4) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that
 added this subsection, this section is subject to the early voting
 provisions in sections 720a to 720j.
       Sec. 720a. As used in sections 720b to 720j:
       (a) "County agreement" means an agreement between 1 or more
 municipalities located in the same county and the county clerk of
 that county authorizing the county clerk of the county to conduct
 early voting for each municipality that is a party to the
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 agreement.
       (b) "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.
       (c) "Early voting plan" means a document and any addenda to
 the document outlining the manner in which early voting will be
 provided.
       (d) "Early voting site" means a location where early voting
 occurs that meets both of the following requirements:
       (i) Is open for at least the required 9 consecutive days of
 early voting beginning on the second Saturday before a statewide or
 federal election and ending on the Sunday before a statewide or
 federal election.
       (ii) Is open for at least 8 hours each day during the required
 9 consecutive days of early voting.
       (e) "Municipal" and "municipality" mean a city or township.
       (f) "Municipal agreement" means an agreement between 2 or more
 municipalities located in the same county to jointly conduct early
 voting.
       Sec. 720b. (1) A registered and qualified elector in this
 state has 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 has the same rights and is subject to the same
 requirements as an elector at a polling place on election day.
       (2) Early voting must be provided in each statewide and
 federal election for at least 9 consecutive days beginning on the
 second Saturday before the statewide or federal election and ending
 on the Sunday before the statewide or federal election, and must be
 provided for at least 8 hours each day during the required 9
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 consecutive days of early voting.
         Sec. 720c. (1) The secretary of state shall supervise the
 implementation and conduct of early voting required under section
 4(1)(m) of article II of the state constitution of 1963 to provide
 each elector an opportunity to cast a ballot in person before each
 statewide or federal election.
         (2) For early voting required under section 4(1)(m) of article
 II of the state constitution of 1963, the secretary of state shall
 do all of the following:
         (a) Issue instructions and procedures to county and municipal
 election officials on the administration and conduct of early
 voting.
         (b) Advise and direct county and municipal election officials
 on conducting early voting.
         (c) Modify the qualified voter file technology and electronic
 poll book technology, or develop, acquire, or approve new
 technology, to efficiently and securely implement, administer, and
 conduct early voting, including, but not limited to, providing for
 daily updates to the electronic poll book. Notwithstanding section
 668b, the secretary of state may upgrade the electronic poll book
 or develop or acquire new technology to replace the electronic poll
 book.
         (d) Create a model municipal agreement template and model
 county agreement template, and ensure that each template can be
 completed online by a county or municipality no later than
 September 1 of the year before the year in which a general November
 election is to be held.
         (e) Create model early voting plan templates for
 municipalities to complete, and ensure that each template can be
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 electronically transmitted to the bureau of elections.
       (f) Create model countywide early voting plan templates for
 county clerks to complete, and ensure that each template can be
 electronically transmitted to the bureau of elections.
       (g) Review each countywide early voting plan and, if
 necessary, review early voting plans submitted by municipalities
 under section 720h.
       (h) No later than September 1 of the year before the year in
 which a general November election is to be held, evaluate the
 current electronic voting systems in use in this state to determine
 whether the tabulators of each electronic voting system may be
 coded and used at an early voting site and also coded and used at
 an election day precinct for the same election.
       (i) Each electronic voting system, ballot processing machine,
 including, but not limited to, a ballot tabulator, and any other
 machine or system used to facilitate voting, the counting of
 ballots and votes, and the adjudication of ballots, must be in
 compliance with the help America vote act.
       (3) The secretary of state shall provide resources to county
 and municipal election officials that prevent an elector from
 intentionally or inadvertently casting more than 1 ballot at an
 election. The resources required may be technological, procedural,
 or a combination of both technological and procedural, and must do
 all of the following:
       (a) When more than 1 early voting site is available, require
 that an elector be assigned to only 1 early voting site, and create
 a mechanism that alerts an election inspector at an early voting
 site that an elector applying to vote at that early voting site has
 previously cast a ballot at another early voting site.
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       (b) During each day of early voting, update the qualified
 voter file record of each elector who cast a ballot at an early
 voting site and update the electronic poll book with each elector
 who has submitted an absent voter ballot.
       (c) Void the absent voter ballot of any elector who has both
 submitted an absent voter ballot and cast a ballot at an early
 voting site, and require that elector to sign an affidavit
 attesting that the elector surrenders the elector's absent voter
 ballot.
       Sec. 720d. (1) Each municipality shall administer early voting
 under 1 of the following provisions:
       (a) Conduct early voting as a single municipality separate
 from any other municipality as provided under section 720e.
       (b) Enter into a municipal agreement and jointly conduct early
 voting with 1 or more other municipalities located in the same
 county as provided under section 720f.
       (c) Enter into a county agreement and authorize the county
 clerk of the county in which that municipality is located to
 conduct early voting for 1 or more municipalities located in that
 county.
       (2) No later than September 1 of the year before the year in
 which a general November election is to be held, the clerk of each
 municipality shall notify the county clerk of the county in which
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