Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
MODIFY PETITION REQUIREMENTS
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
House Bill 5571 (proposed substitute H-4) Analysis available at
Sponsor: Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou http://www.legislature.mi.gov
House Bill 5572 as reported from committee
Sponsor: Rep. Donavan McKinney
House Bill 5573 (proposed substitute H-4) House Bill 5575 (H-3) as reported
Sponsor: Rep. Jason Morgan Sponsor: Rep. Jasper R. Martus
House Bill 5574 (H-3) as reported House Bill 5576 (H-2) as reported
Sponsor: Rep. Joey Andrews Sponsor: Rep. Jaime Churches
Committee: Elections
Complete to 6-26-24
SUMMARY:
House Bills 5571 to 5576 would amend the Michigan Election Law to allow the Board of State
Canvassers (BSC) to use a statistical random sampling methodology when reviewing petition
signatures for authenticity, modify the deadlines for when a petition must be filed, and make
other changes concerning the petition filing and review process.
House Bill 5571 would allow the Board of State Canvassers to use random sampling when
reviewing a petition for a ballot proposal to verify that it is properly formatted and to require
substantial, rather than strict, compliance with formatting requirements. The bill would also
modify those formatting requirements and make other changes related to the petition review
process, such as allowing the BSC to disqualify obviously fraudulent signatures under certain
conditions and disqualify candidates who do not comply with an investigation into an alleged
violation of the Michigan Election Law’s prohibition against fraudulent signatures.
Substantial compliance and petition form
Currently, petitions must be in strict compliance with the Michigan Election Law’s provided
format. House Bill 5571 would instead provide that nominating petitions or the required
headings for petitions proposing a constitutional amendment, initiation of legislation, or
referendum would have to be in substantially the same form as provided under law, and the
bill would provide the required elements for those petition forms as described below. The
secretary of state (SOS) would have to create a BSC-approved petition form to be used by
petitioners, and the Board of Elections (BOE) would have to issue and publish a digitally
editable template of the form.
Generally, text on a petition form would have to be printed in at least 8-point type. The
summary of purpose and the required warning that an individual who signs the petition multiple
times, signs the petition with a false name or date, or signs the petition without being registered
to vote in Michigan is in violation of the Michigan Election Law would have to be in at least
12-point type. House Bill 5571 would still require a petition form to provide check boxes and
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 statements to indicate whether the circulator is a paid petition circulator or a volunteer, but the
check boxes and statements would no longer have to be printed at the top of the page in 12-
point type. The bill would also remove a requirement that petition headings must be printed in
14-point type. Petitions could include union symbols, barcodes or QR codes, websites, or any
other similar sponsor-provided information in a designated area.
For a petition for a proposed constitutional amendment, all of the following would have to be
printed below the summary of purpose:
• An indication of the sections of the state constitution that would be amended, repealed,
or added.
• The website for the petition sponsor, if applicable, that includes the summary of
purpose, the full text of the proposed amendment, and the full text of any existing
constitutional provisions that would be altered or abrogated by the proposal.
• The following statement: “See reverse side of this petition for the full text of the
proposed constitutional amendment and any existing provisions of the state
constitution that would be altered or abrogated by the proposed constitutional
amendment.”
For a petition for a proposed initiated law, all of the following would have to be printed below
the summary of purpose:
• The full legal name included in the proposed initiated law.
• The full legal name enacted by the legislature, if any, for an existing law that would be
amended or repealed by the proposal.
• If applicable, the public act number and year of the existing law that would be amended
or repealed by the proposal.
• If applicable, the range of Michigan Compiled Law sections that would be amended or
repealed by the proposal.
• A website address that includes the summary of purpose and the full text of the
proposed legislation.
For a petition for a referendum, both of the following would have to be printed below the
summary of purpose:
• The public act number and year of the public act subject to referendum.
• A website address that includes the summary of purpose and the full text of the law
subject to referendum.
For all constitutional amendments, initiated laws, and referenda, the full text of the proposal
would have to be printed on the reverse side of the petition form, and if the text is too long to
be printed on the reverse side of the form, it would have to be continued on a fold-over
extension on the same petition form.
A table for signatures would have to be printed on the petition form that includes spaces for a
signee’s signature, printed name, street address or rural route, city or township, zip code, and
county, and the date of the signatures. A missing or incomplete element of an address would
not be sufficient cause to invalidate a signature if the information provided is sufficient to
match the petition signer with an elector in the Qualified Voter File (QVF).
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 The petition form would have to include the following statement:
PETITION CIRCULATOR CERTIFICATION
As the petition circulator of this petition, I certify that when I circulated this petition I
was 18 years of age or older and a United States citizen; that each signature of the
petition was signed in my presence; that I have no knowledge of an individual signing
this petition more than once; and that to my knowledge and belief, each signature on
the petition is the genuine signature of the individual signing the petition. I
acknowledge that knowingly making a false statement in this certification is a
misdemeanor.
If the circulator is not a resident of this state, the circulator must make a cross
or check mark on the line provided. The circulator agrees to accept the jurisdiction of
the state in any proceeding regarding this petition, and that process served on the
secretary of state or an agent of the secretary of state has the same effect as if personally
served on the circulator. 1
Adjacent to the petition circulator certification, the petition form would have to include the
following:
_________________________________________ _____
(Printed Name and Signature of Petition Circulator) (Date)
__________________________________________
(Complete Residence Address of Petition Circulator)
(Do not enter post office box)
__________________________________________________
(City or Township, State, and Zip Code of Petition Circulator)
The petition form would have to include any required identification statement in accordance
with the Michigan Campaign Finance Act and any related administrative rules.
Summary of purpose
The Michigan Election Law requires a petition for a ballot proposal to include a 100-word
summary of the purpose of the proposal, and the state constitution requires a true and impartial
statement of purpose, limited to 100 words, to appear on the ballot with the proposal. Currently,
section 482b of the Michigan Election Law allows a petition circulator to submit a summary
of purpose to the BSC for approval before circulating the petition and requires the BSC to
approve or deny any such summary within 30 days. The summary must be prepared by the
director of elections and must be limited to not more than 100 words, consist of a true and
impartial statement of the purpose of the proposed amendment or question, be worded to as to
apprise petition signers of the proposal’s subject matter, and be clearly written using words
that have a common everyday meaning. If the BSC approves a summary of purpose before
1
House Bill 5771 would provide that if the SOS or their designated agent is served with legal process, the SOS would
have to promptly notify the petition circulator by personal service or certified mail at the circulator’s indicated
residence.
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 circulation, the petition circulator must print the text of the summary in 12-point type on the
petition, and the BSC cannot consider challenges to the sufficiency of the petition on the basis
of the summary being misleading or deceptive.
House Bill 5571 would repeal section 482b and replace it with a new section, section 474.
Section 474 would allow a petition circulator to submit the petition form and summary of
purpose for a constitutional amendment, initiated law, or referendum to the BSC for approval
before circulating the petition. The bill would retain the current requirements for a summary
of purpose, 2 and the BSC would have to make a determination on whether to accept or reject
the petition form and summary within 30 days of the petitioner’s final submission. If the BSC
approves a summary of purpose and petition form before the petition is circulated, it could not
consider a challenge to a petition on the basis of the summary of purpose or the petition form.
Altered and abrogated constitutional provisions
With respect to a petition proposing a constitutional amendment, House Bill 5571 would
provide that the text of a proposed amendment, not any characterization or interpretation of the
amendment’s meaning or purpose, would control in determining whether an existing provision
would be altered or abrogated.
Under the bill, an existing provision of the constitution would be considered altered by the
proposal only if the proposed amendment would add to, delete from, or change the actual text
of the provision’s existing wording.
An existing provision of the constitution would be considered abrogated by the proposal only
if the existing provision would be rendered wholly inoperative by the proposed amendment—
that is, if the proposed amendment would make the provision a nullity or it would be impossible
for the proposed amendment to be harmonized with the existing provision when considered
together. An existing provision would not be considered wholly inoperative if it is not
incompatible with and can be reasonably construed in a manner consistent with the proposed
amendment.
An existing provision would not be considered altered or abrogated if the proposed amendment
would or might affect the existing provision and both the proposed amendment and existing
provision can be harmoniously construed, or if the proposed amendment would or might affect
the existing provision in a manner that requires both the proposed amendment and existing
provision to be interpreted together.
Random sampling and signature review
Petition signatures are invalid under the Michigan Election Law if a circulator uses a false
address or provides any false information on the certificate of a circulator, a petition is not in
the proper form, or a signature was not signed in the circulator’s presence. House Bill 5571
would allow the BSC to approve and use a statistical random sampling methodology to
determine whether a petition for a ballot proposal complies with these requirements and would
provide that an invalid signature cannot be counted. The invalidity of one or more signatures
on a petition sheet would not affect the validity of the remainder of the signatures on the sheet,
and if an individual signs a petition more than once, only one signature could be counted.
2
House Bill 5571 would specify that the 100-word maximum is exclusive of numerals.
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 Signatures would also be invalid and uncountable if a circulator omits their name, address,
signature, or signing date on the petition circulator certification. However, a missing or
incomplete element of a circulator’s address would not be sufficient cause to invalidate a
signature as long as the information provided is sufficient to locate the circulator, if necessary.
If the BSC determines after a canvass and hearing on a nominating petition that an individual
has signed a petition with a name other than their own, made a false statement in a certificate
on a petition, falsely signed a petition as a circulator, signed a false name as a circulator, or
signed a petition with multiple names, the BSC can disqualify obviously fraudulent signatures
on a petition form on which the violation occurred without checking the signatures against
local registration records. (Other penalties also apply, depending on the violation and the extent
to which an individual knew about it.) Several of these violations are currently misdemeanors
under the Michigan Election Law, punishable by a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment of up to
93 days, or both, but signing a petition under section 482 with multiple names is a felony.
Under HB 5571, it would remain a misdemeanor to make a false statement in a certification or
falsely sign a petition as a circulator, and signing a petition with a false name or signing a name
as a circulator other than one’s own would be a felony. House Bill 5571 would also provide
that the BSC would also not be required to check the signatures against the Qualified Voter
File before disqualifying them.
If an individual refuses to comply with a BSC subpoena in an investigation into an alleged
violation of the offenses described above, or the failure to report such a violation, the BSC can
currently suspend its review of the petition until the individual complies. House Bill 5571
would also allow the BSC to disqualify the candidate on the petition if the individual does not
comply by the deadline to complete the canvass.
Petition circulation
To reflect a 2022 Michigan Supreme Court ruling that struck down portions of the Michigan
Election Law pertaining to petition circulation, the bill would remove requirements that ballot
proposal petitions be circulated on a congressional district form and that each paid circulator
must file a signed affidavit with the secretary of state (SOS) indicating that they are a paid
circulator (see Background, below).
Additional provisions
The bill would also remove a provision prohibiting a petition sponsor from circulating a
petition for signatures before the petition is filed with the SOS and a provision stating that a
printed name in the prescribed space on a nominating petition does not constitute the signature
of a circulator or an individual signing the petition.
Finally, the bill would repeal sections 482c and 482d of the Michigan Election Law, which
together prohibit a petition circulator from knowingly making a false statement concerning
their status as a paid or volunteer circulator gatherer. 3
MCL 168.482 et seq. (amended) and MCL 168.482b et seq. (repealed)
3
House Bill 5571 would retain current prohibitions on making a false statement in a petition circulator certificate, and
the provisions of section 482d, which defines a paid circulator gatherer, would be included elsewhere in the bill.
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 House Bill 5572 would allow the BSC to use random sampling when reviewing nominating
petitions and would make other modifications to the nominating petition review process.
Random sampling and signature review
The BSC would be allowed to approve and use a statistical random sampling methodology to
determine the validity and sufficiency of signatures and petition form requirements on
nominating petitions. If a complaint questioning the validity of a signature is received within
seven days after the random sample is made available to the public that otherwise meets the