Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
MODIFY CANVASS BOARD ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
House Bill 5551 (H-3) as adopted on the House floor Analysis available at
Sponsor: Rep. Noah Arbit http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Committee: Elections
Complete to 6-23-24
SUMMARY:
House Bill 5551 would amend the Michigan Election Law to prohibit an individual from
serving on the Board of State Canvassers (BSC) or on a board of county canvassers if they
have been convicted of certain election crimes.
Currently, individuals are appointed to the BSC to serve a four-year term from a list of five
nominees from each political party—three from the state party and two from the legislature.
Individuals are appointed to county canvass boards for a four-year term from a list of three
nominees submitted by each party. (During the appointment process, county boards of
commissioners may request a nominee to provide information on whether they have been
convicted of a felony or an election crime but are not required to do so.)
Under House Bill 5551, an individual would be disqualified from serving either as a member
of the Board of State Canvassers or as a member of a board of county canvassers if they have
been convicted of an elections-related offense.
Elections-related offense would generally mean a misdemeanor or felony violation of
the Michigan Election Law or certain federal election laws. (See Background, below,
for the full list of qualifying offenses.)
MCL 168.22c and 168.24b
BACKGROUND:
Under House Bill 5551, any of the following would be considered an elections-related offense:
• Perjury related to a false statement made on an affidavit of identity.
• Intentionally disclosing an election result from an early voting site before the polls
close on election day.
• Violating the Michigan Election Law’s regulations for election challengers.
• Making a false statement in an absent voter ballot application, distributing and
returning absentee ballot applications without authorization, or forging a signature on
an absent voter ballot application.
• Knowingly making a false statement on an absent voter ballot return envelope while
voting an absentee ballot or while assisting an absent voter.
• Causing the polls to be closed, disclosing an election result before the polls can legally
be closed on election day, or characterizing how a legal ballot has been marked.
• Knowingly subscribing to a false statement in a certificate on a statement of vote
returns as an election inspector.
House Fiscal Agency Page 1 of 4
 • Making a false statement in a post-election campaign finance statement.
• Willfully committing any act that interferes with a fair and impartial recount as an
officer, assistant, clerk, or employee engaged in conducting the recount.
• Giving, lending, or promising valuable consideration to or for any individual to
influence the individual’s vote relative to a candidate or ballot question or as a reward
from refraining from voting.
• Receiving, agreeing, or contracting for valuable consideration for voting, refraining
from voting, agreeing to vote or refrain from voting, inducing or attempting to induce
another individual to vote or refrain from voting, doing anything prohibited by the
Michigan Election Law, or distributing absent voter ballot applications and receiving
signed applications for delivery to a clerk without authorization.
• Soliciting any valuable consideration from a candidate for nomination for or election
to office, other than regular business transactions.
• Discharging or threatening to discharge an employee for the purpose of influencing the
employee’s vote.
• Attempting to influence a voter by imposing or threatening to impose a penalty of
excommunication, dismissal, or expulsion, or by commanding or advising a voter
under pain of religious disapproval.
• Failing to report at a designated polling place after accepting an appointment as an
election inspector.
• Willfully failing to perform a duty imposed by the Michigan Election Law or
disobeying a lawful instruction or order by the secretary of state, a board of election
commissioners, or a board of election inspectors.
• Soliciting votes in a polling place or within 100 feet of an entrance to a building in
which a polling place is located.
• Keeping a room or building to record or register bets or wages or to sell pools upon the
result of a political nomination, appointment, or election, or wagering or being the
custodian of a wager on the result of a nomination, appointment, or election.
• Participating in a meeting of more than two individuals (other than immediate family)
at which an absentee ballot is voted.
• Giving, lending, or promising any valuable consideration to or for an individual with
the intention to induce them to distribute absent voter ballot applications to voters and
receive signed applications for delivery to a clerk.
• Knowingly making, publishing, disseminating, or circulating an assertion,
representation, or statement of fact concerning a candidate that is false, deceptive,
scurrilous, or malicious without the true name of the author being ascribed to the
assertation, or knowingly causing such an assertion, representation, or statement to be
made, published, disseminated, or circulated.
• Attempting to influence or interrupt a voter or deterring an individual from voting by
means of bribery menace, or other corrupt means.
• Breaking open or violating ballot box locks or seals before the final votes have been
ascertained without legal authorization; willfully damaging or destroying, obtaining
undue possession of, concealing, or withholding a ballot box or voting machine;
fraudulently or forcibly amending the number of ballots legally deposited in a ballot
box or the totals on a voting machine; or aiding or abetting in any of these activities.
• Willfully destroying, mutilating, defacing, falsifying, or fraudulently removing or
concealing any vote or other election documents.
House Fiscal Agency HB 5551 (H-3) as adopted Page 2 of 4
 • Fraudulently making any entry, erasure, or alteration of a vote or other election
document or allowing another person to do so.
• Obstructing or attempting to obstruct a voter in the exercise of their duties, including
by disclosing the contents of a voted ballot.
• Opening an envelope containing an absentee ballot, marking or altering an absentee
ballot, or substituting an absentee ballot with a different ballot without authorization.
• Possessing an absentee ballot that was mailed or delivered to another person or
returning or soliciting to return an absentee ballot without authorization.
• Suggesting or otherwise attempting to influence an individual while assisting them
with voting an absentee ballot or allowing another person to influence or attempt to
influence that individual.
• Suggesting or otherwise attempting to influence an absent voter on how they would
vote while they are voting their absentee ballot.
• Planning or organizing a meeting at which absentee ballots are to be voted.
• Falsely impersonating another person at an election, voting or attempting to vote under
the name of another person, or inducing or attempting to induce a person to vote under
another name.
• Using a false or fictitious name, offering to vote by a false or fictitious name, entering
a false or fictitious name in a registration book, offering or causing a false or fictitious
name to be entered, or inducing or attempting to induce another person to use or enter
a false or fictitious name.
• Willfully offering or attempting to vote if not a qualified and registered Michigan voter.
• Aiding or counseling a person who is not a qualified and registered Michigan voter to
vote or offer to vote.
• Offering or attempting to vote in the incorrect precinct without authorization.
• Procuring, aiding, or counseling an individual to enter a township, ward, or precinct to
vote at an election while knowing that they are not qualified or registered to vote there.
• Offering or attempting to vote more than once at the same election.
• Intentionally misrepresenting oneself as an election official in a polling place.
• Making a false affidavit or falsely swearing under oath for the purposes of registering
to vote, casting a ballot, or qualifying as a candidate for office.
• Knowingly making, filing, or otherwise publishing a false document or a document
containing false signatures with the intent to defraud for any purpose under the
Michigan Election Law.
• Violating federal prohibitions against conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten, or
intimidate an individual in or because of the exercise of their right to vote.
• Violating federal prohibitions against acting under the appearance of legal authority to
willfully deprive a person of their right to vote, refuse to allow a qualified individual
from voting, or refuse to tabulate, count, or report a qualified individual’s vote.
• Violating federal prohibitions against voting-related intimidation, threats, or coercion.
• Knowingly or willfully giving false information for the purpose of establishing voter
eligibility or conspiring with another individual to provide false information or
encourage illegal voting in a federal election.
• Violating federal prohibitions against knowingly and willfully falsifying or concealing
a material fact; making false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements; or knowingly making
or using a false document pertaining to an election.
• Voting more than once in a federal election.
House Fiscal Agency HB 5551 (H-3) as adopted Page 3 of 4
 • Knowingly and willfully depriving, defrauding, or attempting to deprive or defraud
residents of a fair and impartial election process for a federal election by procuring or
submitting false voter registration applications or by procuring, casting, or tabulating
ballots known to be false or fraudulent.
BRIEF DISCUSSION:
Supporters of House Bill 5551 believe that it would be a common-sense safeguard to protect
Michigan’s elections from bad actors, which is necessary given the recent challenges to
electoral processes. Those who are willing to violate the law to interfere with elections should
not be involved in certifying the results; the violations included as election-related offenses in
the bill are serious enough to permanently disqualify an individual from overseeing an election.
Additionally, the Michigan Election Law prohibits those convicted of a felony or an election
crime from serving as election inspectors at precincts, so individuals who serve on canvass
boards should meet similar criteria.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the state or local units of government.
POSITIONS:
Representatives of the following entities testified in support of the bill (3-12-24):
• Department of State
• Voters Not Politicians
Pure Integrity for Michigan Elections indicated opposition to the bill. (3-19-24)
Legislative Analyst: Holly Kuhn
Fiscal Analyst: Michael Cnossen
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
House Fiscal Agency HB 5551 (H-3) as adopted Page 4 of 4


Statutes affected:
Substitute (H-3): 168.22, 168.24
House Introduced Bill: 168.22, 168.24
As Passed by the House: 168.22, 168.24