Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
ELECTION ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENTS
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
House Bills 6054 and 6055 as reported from committee Analysis available at
Sponsor: Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Committee: Elections
Complete to 12-7-24
SUMMARY:
House Bill 6055 would modify several sections of the Michigan Election Law, many of which
pertain to early and absentee voting procedures. House Bill 6054 is a companion bill that would
make a complementary change to the Code of Criminal Procedure.
House Bill 6055 would amend the Michigan Election Law to make several changes to current
regulations on early voting sites, early voting agreements, absentee ballots, and election
equipment and administration.
Early voting agreements
Ballot Proposal 22-2 amended the state constitution to grant Michigan voters the right to
participate in early voting for statewide and federal elections. 1 Early voters have the same rights
and are subject to the same requirements as voters at polling places on election day. To
administer early voting, state law provides that municipalities can choose between offering
early voting as a single municipality or as a party to a municipal or county agreement.
House Bill 6055 would allow a municipality that offered early voting at a presidential primary
election as a party to a municipal or county agreement to withdraw from the agreement and
enter into a different municipal or county agreement for the remaining federal and statewide
elections for that year and the following year, and for any other elections included in the
agreement. (Such an agreement could be a new agreement or an amendment to an existing
agreement that was in effect for the presidential primary if all existing parties agree to the
amendment.) The municipality would have to withdraw by April 15 of the year in which the
presidential primary is held. 2
If a school district is holding an election and is partially or wholly located in a municipality
conducting early voting, then the school district election coordinating committee would have
to designate the clerk who is responsible for the school district election. The clerk could be
designated in the existing school district election coordinating committee report as the clerk
responsible for the school district election.
If a municipality that crosses county lines is part of a county agreement, the county that
provided early voting for the municipality would have to conduct the canvass, certify that
1
Most of the legislation implementing early voting in Michigan was enacted by 2023 PA 81. For a summary, see:
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-2024/billanalysis/House/pdf/2023-HLA-0367-4BED7BA9.pdf.
See also: https://www.house.mi.gov/hfa/PDF/Alpha/Background_Brief_Proposal_22-2_Jan2024.pdf.
2
Michigan’s presidential primary election is currently held on the fourth Tuesday in the February of a presidential
election year.
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 county’s portion of the canvass, and transmit the results of the municipality’s canvass to the
other county, which would then have to certify its portion of the canvassed results for the
municipality.
Early voting agreement amendments and withdrawal
The bill would also allow parties to a municipal or county early voting agreement to change
the agreement’s early voting coordinator, the clerk responsible for the early voting poll book,
the funding structure, and (if originally included in the agreement) the days, hours, and
locations for early voting. Amendments would have to be made at least 60 days in advance of
an election covered by the agreement, submitted as an addendum to the original agreement,
signed by each municipal clerk who is a party to the agreement, and submitted to the secretary
of state (SOS). Amendments to a municipal agreement would also have to be submitted to the
appropriate county clerk.
Currently, a party to a county early voting agreement cannot withdraw from the agreement
within 150 days before a general statewide and federal election until the county canvass is
completed. House Bill 6055 would instead prohibit a party from withdrawing during the 180
days before a general election until after the county canvass is completed. (The bill would not
change the 150-day window that currently applies for other elections that may be covered by a
county early voting agreement.)
The bill would also specify that a municipality that withdraws from a county agreement would
have to conduct early voting independently. If a county withdraws, however, the agreement
would be terminated, and each affected municipality would have to either enter into a
municipal agreement with other municipalities in the county or conduct early voting as a single
municipality within 14 days after the agreement is terminated.
Early voting sites
House Bill 6055 would require the clerk of each municipality to notify the Michigan Bureau
of Elections (BOE) regarding the days, hours, and location of an approved early voting site,
and post that information in a conspicuous place in their office, at least 50 days before the date
of an election at which the early voting site will be used.
For each federal and statewide election, each elector in each municipality conducting early
voting would have to be served by one or more early voting sites. (Current law instead provides
that at least one early voting site must be open to all registered electors of the municipality.)
Additionally, each early voting site submitted for approval under a municipal or county
agreement could serve all electors covered by the agreement, the electors in specific
municipalities covered by an early voting site, the electors of part of one municipality, or any
combination of these options, as long as each elector in each of the municipalities is served by
at least one early voting site.
After the close of each day of early voting, boards of election inspectors currently must verify
that the number of tabulated ballots equals the number of electors identified in the early voting
poll book as being issued ballots at the early voting site that day and note the reason for any
discrepancies. The bill would amend this provision to require election inspectors to include the
number of absentee ballots that are brought to an early voting site to be tabulated as early voting
ballots, in addition to the ballots issued to early voters, when making their verifications.
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 Absent military and overseas voter ballot applications
House Bill 6055 would require city and township clerks to place an absent military or overseas
voter on the permanent mail ballot list upon receiving an application from such an individual
to receive an absentee ballot for all future elections. Every year, the SOS would have to send a
mail or electronic notice, in accordance with the voter’s requested method of contact, to
confirm their absentee voter status.
The voter would remain an absent military or overseas voter and would remain on the
permanent mail ballot voter list if the voter responds to the notice to confirm their status as an
absent military or overseas voter, the voter responds to confirm their status and change their
address or method of transmission, or the notice is not returned as undeliverable.
A voter would no longer be considered an absent military or overseas voter and would have to
be removed from the list if the voter responds and states that they are no longer an absent
military or overseas voter, the notice is returned as undeliverable, or the city or township clerk
otherwise determines that the voter is no longer an absent military or overseas voter.
An absent military or overseas voter who submits an absentee ballot application for all future
elections would be a permanent mail ballot voter until they are removed from the permanent
mail ballot voter list as provided above.
Absentee voter lists
House Bill 6055 would require an application created by the SOS or a city or township clerk
for an individual to be placed on a permanent absent voter list to be in substantially the same
form as that prescribed for the Michigan Election Law for absentee ballot applications.
Additionally, individuals would be able to complete an application for an absentee ballot for
any single election, certain elections, or all elections in a calendar year. (Currently, an absentee
ballot application submitted before a primary or presidential primary can be for either that
primary only or for the primary and each following election in that year.)
Absentee ballot processing
When processing an absentee ballot approved for tabulation, House Bill 6055 would allow
boards of election inspectors to compare the number on a ballot stub with the ballot number
recorded for the elector in the Qualified Voter File (QVF), as an alternative to the number on
the face of the absentee ballot return envelope.
If the numbers do not match or the ballot stub is missing, and there is no explanation for the
discrepancy or missing stub, the ballot would have to be processed as a challenged ballot.
(Current law only provides procedures for if the numbers do match, in which case the election
inspectors must detach the stub, prepare the ballot for tabulation, and enter the voter into the
poll book as having cast an absentee ballot.)
Voting booths
The bill would provide that clerks are responsible for determining how many voting booths are
needed at a polling place and would remove a requirement that the walls of a voting booth be
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 at least six feet tall. 3 (As is current law, voting booths would have to be built in such a manner
that the walls conceal the voters from other individuals.)
Poll book software
The Michigan Election Law currently requires cities and townships to use BOE-approved
electronic poll book software to process voters and generate precinct reports. The software
must generally be downloaded after 4 p.m. on the day before an election, but clerks of cities
and townships with more than 50 precincts can begin the download after 2 p.m. on the Saturday
before election as long as supplemental lists are provided to capture any absent voter activity
between the Saturday and Monday before the election.
The bill would provide that if the electronic poll book software has live connectivity to the
QVF at a polling place or early voting site, then that software must be used to process voters
and generate precinct reports, and the software downloaded on the Monday or Saturday before
the election, or a paper copy of the download, serves as a backup.
Drop boxes
The bill would require each city or township to establish the absentee ballot drop box locations
in that city or township at least 75 days before an election. 4
Unofficial county-level results
The bill would require, rather than allow, county clerks to conduct unofficial counts to provide
for early unofficial returns, which would have to be posted in a conspicuous place in the county
clerk’s office and (if available) on the county website.
The bill would provide that if it becomes impracticable to count all or part of the ballots with
tabulating equipment, the uncounted ballots would be sealed in an approved ballot container
and transported to the county to be counted at the canvass. (Currently, a county clerk can
require a manual count of the ballots in these circumstances.)
Additionally, the bill would no longer require the sum of election day, absentee ballot, and
early voting results for each precinct and contest to be published in the accumulation report of
unofficial results. (The information would still have to be reported separately by these three
categories.) City, township, and county clerks could choose to report the results using a format
that clearly indicates the absent voter ballots processed and tabulated before election day.
Reports
Within seven days after an election, city and township clerks must transmit both of the
following to their county clerk:
• A provisional ballot report for each precinct that includes the number of provisional
ballots issued, tabulated on election day, forwarded to the clerk to be determined after
the election, and tabulated by the clerk after election day, in addition to other
information for each precinct.
3
Current law requires that there be at least one voting booth for every 100 individuals people entitled to vote at that
polling place, based on the precinct registration book.
4
Current law requires each city and township to have a minimum of one absentee ballot drop box and at least one
drop box for every 15,000 registered voters.
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 • An affidavit report that includes the number of affidavits signed by voters stating that
they did not bring identification for election purposes.
The bill would instead require both reports to be submitted to the SOS and would require the
provisional ballot report to additionally include the number of provisional ballots issued at an
early voting site for each precinct.
The bill would remove provisions that currently require county clerks to transmit provisional
ballot reports and affidavit reports to the SOS within 14 days after an election and require the
reports to be immediately available for public inspection.
The bill would no longer require the SOS to provide a voter registration application report that
includes the number of voter registration applications completed at a clerk’s office during the
14 days before an election without providing identification for election purposes to the House
and Senate committees dealing with elections. 5
Additional provisions
The following information, which must currently be posted in a clerk’s office and (if available)
on the city or township website, would have to be in a conspicuous location in the clerk’s
office.
• Notice of the establishment and location of an election day vote center.
• Notice of the location where the precinct canvass of early votes will take place and the
time the canvass will begin. 6 (This information currently is only required to be posted
on the municipality’s website.)
• At least 18 days’ notice of the location, dates, and hours of the absentee ballot counting
place and the number of election inspectors who will process and tabulate those absent
voter ballots. (If this information changes, another notice must be posted as soon as
possible, but no later than the eleventh day before an election or by 10 a.m. on the day
before the changes occur if processing and tabulation has already begun.)
• Unofficial accumulated returns of election results. (Currently, the Michigan Election
Law only provides that the returns must be open to the public.)
The bill would provide that individuals could update their voter registration at their city or
township clerk’s office beginning on the fourteenth day before an election through the day of
the election. (This procedure is currently available for individuals seeking to become registered
to vote at their clerk’s office on those days.)
After the polls close on election day, the precinct board of election inspectors would have to
record the seal number on a ballot container certificate in the poll book or an addendum to the
poll book after placing the ballots in the container.
MCL 168.305 et seq.
5
If an individual does not provide identification for election purposes, they can still become registered if they provide
proof of residency, such as a current utility bill or bank statement, and sign an affidavit.
6
Clerks would no longer have to post the time that the precinct canvas will begin but would have to post a notice if
the location of the canvass differs from the location of the early voting site.
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 House Bill 6054 would amend the sentencing guidelines provisions of the Code of Criminal
Procedure to update a reference to the Michigan Election Law to reflect a paragraph numbering
change that would be made by HB 6055. The bill is tie-barred to House Bill 6055, which means
it cannot take effect unless House Bill 6055 is also enacted.
MCL 777.11d
BRIEF DISCUSSION:
According to committee testimony, House Bill 6055 is intended to address questions from
clerks, particularly with respect to early voting, that arose with the implementation of Ballot
Proposal 2022-2, which was in effect statewide for the first time in