SB 964

SENATE BILL NO. 964
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending sections 726, 736, and 751 (MCL 168.726,
168.736, and 168.751), and by adding sections 653c, 653d, 653e, 726a, and 753a;
and to repeal acts and parts of acts.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 653c. (1) Except
as otherwise provided under subsection (5), a local government shall provide
notice as set forth in this section to the secretary of state not later than 20
days after the governing body of that local government approves the ballot
language related to any of the following:
(a) Any change to the method of how the winner of an election is
determined.
(b) Any change from an at-large method of election to a district-based
method of election or from a district-based method of election to an at-large
method of election.
(c) Any governmental reorganization under, but not limited to, any of
the following:
(i) The home rule
city act, 1909 PA 279, MCL 117.1 to 117.38.
(ii) The charter
township act, 1947 PA 359, MCL 42.1 to 42.34.
(iii) The home rule
village act, 1909 PA 278, MCL 78.1 to 78.28.
(2) Except as otherwise provided under subsection (5), a local
government shall provide notice as set forth in this section to the secretary
of state at least 20 days before the clerk of that local government starts a
program to remove electors from the voter registration records, other than for the
canceling of the voter registration of an elector in accordance with section
509aa, the canceling of the voter registration of a deceased elector in
accordance with section 510, or the canceling of the voter registration of an
elector in accordance with section 511.
(3) The secretary of state shall prescribe the form of the notice
required under subsections (1) and (2). As soon as practicable, but no later
than 5 days after receiving notice from a local government under subsection (1)
or (2), the secretary of state shall post the notice on the department of
state's website and ensure that the posting is made available and accessible to
individuals with disabilities and individuals with limited English proficiency.
(4) If a local government fails to submit a
required notice under this section to the secretary of state by the deadline,
the secretary of state shall post that violation on a visible portion of the
department of state's website that is not archived and is updated at least
every 30 days with additional information. The name of each local government
that fails to submit a required notice under this section must be listed in
alphabetical order on the department of state's website. The information posted
by the secretary of state on the department of state's website regarding a
notice violation must include the name of the local government, the notice
required under this section that was not submitted by the local government, the
date of the violation by the local government, and the date the notice was
submitted by the local government, or an indication that the required notice
was never submitted by the local government. The secretary of state shall not
remove the posted information regarding a notice violation by a local
government under this section until 1 year after the date of the notice
violation. Nothing in this subsection removes the obligation for a local
government to comply with all notice requirements under this section.
(5) If a state of emergency affecting a local
government is declared under state law, the notice requirements under this
section are temporarily suspended for that local government starting on the
date that the state of emergency is declared and continuing for the period of
time that the state of emergency is in effect. On the date that the state of
emergency is terminated for that local government, the temporary suspension of
the notice requirements under this section is terminated, and the local
government is obligated to provide any notices the local government would have
been required to provide while the state of emergency was in effect.
(6) Subsections (1) to (5) take effect January 1, 2028. Before January
1, 2028, the secretary of state shall consult with the Michigan Association of
County Clerks, the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, and at least 2
voting rights advocates regarding the implementation of subsections (1) to (5).
(7) As used in this section, "at-large method of election" and
"district-based method of election" mean those terms as defined in
section 3 of the state voting rights act.
Sec. 653d. (1) Except
as otherwise provided in subsection (4), a local government shall provide
notice to the secretary of state of any of the following as set forth in this
section:
(a) No later than 5 business days after receiving and before complying
with a request from any individual to view, inspect, take possession of, or
copy voting equipment. As used in this subdivision, "voting
equipment" means a tabulator, physical or digital data, voter assist
terminal, early voting poll book, electronic poll book, paper poll book, or any
other equipment approved by the secretary of state or the board of state
canvassers for use at an election.
(b) No later than 5 business days after receiving and before complying
with a request from any individual to view, inspect, or copy ballots from more
than 25% of the total votes cast in any election held in the local government.
(c) Not less than 14 days before an election, a list of any organization
or committee as to which authorization to appoint challengers has been approved
or denied under section 731.
(d) No later than 5 business days after receiving and before acting on a
challenge made by an elector of the local government to the registration of an
elector under section 512.
(2) As soon as practicable, but no later than 5 days after receiving
notice from a local government under subsection (1), the secretary of state
shall post the notice on the department of state's website and ensure that the
posting is made available and accessible to individuals with disabilities and
individuals with limited English proficiency.
(3) If a local government fails to submit a required notice under this
section to the secretary of state by the deadline, the secretary of state shall
post that violation on a visible portion of the department of state's website
that is not archived and is updated at least every 30 days with additional
information. The name of each local government that fails to submit a required
notice under this section must be listed in alphabetical order on the
department of state's website. The information posted by the secretary of state
on the department of state's website regarding a notice violation must include
the name of the local government, the notice required under this section that
was not submitted by the local government, the date of the violation by the
local government, and the date the notice was submitted by the local
government, or an indication that the required notice was never submitted by
the local government. The secretary of state shall not remove the posted
information regarding a notice violation by a local government under this
section until 1 year after the date of the notice violation. Nothing in this
subsection removes the obligation for a local government to comply with all
notice requirements under this section.
(4) If a state of emergency affecting a local government is declared
under state law, the notice requirements under this section are temporarily
suspended for that local government starting on the date that the state of
emergency is declared and continuing for the period of time that the state of
emergency is in effect. On the date that the state of emergency is terminated
for that local government, the temporary suspension of the notice requirements
under this section is terminated, and the local government is obligated to
provide any notices the local government would have been required to provide
while the state of emergency was in effect.
(5) Subsections (1) to (4) take effect January 1, 2028. Before January
1, 2028, the secretary of state shall consult with the Michigan Association of
County Clerks, the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, and at least 2
voting rights advocates regarding the implementation of subsections (1) to (4).
Sec. 653e. (1)
The secretary of state shall provide notice of any of the following as set
forth in this section:
(a) Any change to the location of a polling place, absent voter ballot
drop box, or other voting location within a local government.
(b) Any change to the hours or days available for voting, including
early voting, as compared to a previous election for the same or a similar
office.
(c) Any change to the hours or locations for absent voting under section
761b.
(d) Any early voting plan, or any amendments to an early voting plan,
under section 720h.
(e) The results of any election audit conducted under section 31a.
(f) The selection of a voting system under section 37a.
(g) Any agreement to establish an absent voter counting board under
section 764d.
(h) The governing body of a local government approves a change to a
district within that local government under, but not limited to, any of the
following:
(i) 1966 PA 261,
MCL 46.401 to 46.416.
(ii) Section 5 of
1966 PA 293, MCL 45.505.
(iii) Section 27a of
the home rule city act, 1909 PA 279, MCL 117.27a.
(2) As soon as practicable, but not later than 5 days after the
secretary of state is notified of any occurrence under subsection (1), the
secretary of state shall post the notice on the department of state's website
and ensure that the posting is made available and accessible to individuals
with disabilities and individuals with limited English proficiency.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) take effect January 1, 2028. Before January
1, 2028, the secretary of state shall consult with the Michigan Association of
County Clerks, the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, and at least 2
voting rights advocates regarding the implementation of subsections (1) and
(2).
Sec. 726. No
ballots shall Except as otherwise provided in
this act, a ballot must not be delivered to an elector by any person individual other
than 1 of the election inspectors of election and only within
in the polling place. , except as provided in
this act for absent voters' ballots.
Sec. 726a. (1) If
an elector is unable to enter a polling place or early voting site, and that
elector asks the county, city, or township clerk or precinct board of election
inspectors to provide voting assistance, the voting assistance must be provided
as set forth in subsection (3).
(2) During the hours voting is available to electors at a polling place
or early voting site, a sign must be displayed outside of that polling place or
early voting site that states the following:
"If you need voting assistance, please call
_____________________."
(3) Subject to subsection (4), when the election inspectors at a polling
place or early voting site become aware that an elector needing voting
assistance as described in subsection (1) is outside of the polling place or
early voting site and wishes to cast a ballot, the following procedure must be
used:
(a) Two election inspectors from different political parties must
deliver the ballot inside a secrecy sleeve to the elector who is outside of the
polling place or early voting site.
(b) After the elector has marked the ballot and placed the ballot back
into the secrecy sleeve, the election inspectors must immediately return to the
polling place or early voting site and deposit the ballot into the tabulator in
a manner that protects the secrecy of the ballot to the greatest extent
possible.
(c) If the ballot is accepted by the tabulator, 1 election inspector,
regardless of political party affiliation, must return to the elector who is
outside of the polling place or early voting site and indicate to the elector
that the elector's ballot was accepted by the tabulator and was tabulated. If
the ballot is rejected by the tabulator, 2 election inspectors from different
political parties must return to the elector who is outside of the polling
place or early voting site and give that elector the opportunity to have the
ballot considered a spoiled ballot and to vote another ballot.
(4) Except as provided in this section, an elector who votes a ballot at
a polling place or early voting site under the procedure described in
subsection (3) is subject to all of the requirements, and has all of the
rights, that apply to electors who vote inside the polling place or early
voting site.
(5) This section takes effect January 1, 2028.
Sec. 736. When
If an elector applying to vote shall is not be challenged, or, if having
been challenged, if the answers to the questions asked him the elector while under oath as to his the elector's qualifications
shall show that he
the elector is a qualified elector at
that poll, he shall the elector must be permitted to vote. The election inspector having charge of the ballots shall
deliver to said the
elector 1 of each kind of said ballots the ballot to be voted at the election. All the ballots so given to an elector applying to vote
shall bear the same number, beginning, for the first elector to whom ballots
are given, with the lowest numbered ballots, the next higher number for the
second such elector, and so on. On request of the elector, an election inspector may give an
explanation of the manner of voting, and if by
the board deemed of election inspectors considers it necessary, an
interpreter may be called. , but the An elector
shall must not
be otherwise be assisted
in the marking of his the elector's ballot, except as otherwise provided in this act. for assisted electors.
Sec. 751. (1) When If at an
election an elector shall state states that the elector cannot mark his or her the elector's ballot,
the elector shall must
be assisted in the marking of his or her the elector's ballot by 2 election
inspectors. of
election.
(2) If an
elector is so disabled on account of
blindness, the elector may be assisted in the marking of his or her the elector's ballot
by a member of his or her the elector's immediate family or by a person an individual over
18 years of age designated by the blind person.elector.
(3) Beginning on the effective date of the amendatory act that added
this subsection, an elector may seek language assistance from an individual the
elector chooses in order to exercise the elector's right to vote.
(4) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to conflict with
federal law or suggest that voters have fewer rights than granted under federal
law, including, but not limited to, section 208 of the voting rights act of
1965, 52 USC 10508.
Sec. 753a. (1) Subject
to section 744 and subsections (2) and (3), an individual may provide food,
warmth, or other necessities to electors who are in line to vote inside or
outside of the building in which a polling place, an early voting site, or a
city or township clerk's office is located.
(2) An individual who provides food, warmth, or other necessities to
electors as described under subsection (1) must not interfere with the voting
process.
(3) The appropriate clerk may direct an individual who is providing
food, warmth, or other necessities to electors under subsection (1) to
immediately cease providing food, warmth, or other necessities to electors if
the clerk determines that the individual is interfering with the voting process
or is interfering with the clerk's ability to maintain peace, regularity, and
order at the polling place, early voting site, or city or township clerk's
office where that food, warmth, or other necessities are being provided to
electors.
Enacting section 1.
Section 579 of the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.579, is
repealed.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take
effect unless all of the following bills of the 103rd Legislature are enacted
into law:
(a)  Senate Bill No. 961.
(b) Senate Bill No. 963.