SB 962

SENATE BILL NO. 962
A bill to create a voting and elections database and
institute; to provide for the powers and duties of certain state and local
governmental officers and entities; and to provide remedies.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1. This act may be
cited as the "voting and elections database and institute act".
Sec. 3. As used in this
act:
(a) "Database and institute" means the Michigan
voting and elections database and institute created in section 5(1).
(b) "Local government" means any of the following:
(i) A county.
(ii) A
city, township, or any other political subdivision of this state that
conducts an election.
Sec. 5. (1) No later than November 5, 2027,
the secretary of state shall enter into an agreement with 1 or more public research universities in this state to create
the Michigan voting and elections database and institute to maintain and
administer a central repository of elections and voting data available to the
public from all local governments in this state and to foster, pursue, and
sponsor research on existing laws and best practices in voting and elections.
(2) The database and institute shall provide a center for
research, training, and information on voting systems and election
administration. The database and institute may do any of the following:
(a) Conduct classes both for credit and noncredit.
(b) Organize interdisciplinary groups of scholars to research
voting and elections in this state.
(c) Conduct seminars involving voting and elections.
(d) Establish a nonpartisan centralized database in order to
collect, archive, and make publicly available at no cost an accessible database
pertaining to elections, voter registration, and ballot access in this state.
(e) Assist in the dissemination of election data to the
public.
(f) Publish books and periodicals as the database and
institute considers appropriate on voting and elections in this state.
(g) Provide nonpartisan technical assistance to local
governments, scholars, and the general public seeking to use the resources of
the database and institute.
(3) If the secretary of state enters into an agreement with 1
or more public research universities as
provided under subsection (1), the parties to that agreement shall enter into a
memorandum of understanding that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(a) The initial term of the
memorandum of understanding is for not less than 25 years.
(b) The public research university
or universities select the director of the database and institute.
(c) The secretary of state is
responsible only for the costs of entering into the memorandum of understanding
with the public research university or universities to create the database and
institute and for the transfer of election and voting data and records, and the
public research university or universities are responsible for any other costs
associated with operating the database and institute.
(4) The database and institute shall maintain in an electronic
format, and make publicly
available as described in this subsection, all
relevant election and voting data and records for at least the previous 12-year
period. Except for any data, information, or estimates that identify individual
electors, the data, information, and estimates,
as described in this subsection, must be
posted on the institute's website and made
available to the public at no cost. Maps, election day polling places, early voting sites, and absent voter ballot drop box
locations must be made available in a geospatial file format. The database and
institute shall prepare any estimates made under this section by applying the
most advanced, peer-reviewed, and validated methodologies available. The data
and records that must be maintained include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(a) Estimates of the total population, voting age population,
and citizen voting age population by racial, color, or language minority group
and disability status, broken down to the precinct level, on a year-by-year
basis, for every local government in this state, based on data from the United
States Census Bureau, including the American
Community Survey, collected by a public office.
(b) Election results at the precinct level for every federal,
state, and local election held in every local government in this state.
(c) The most recent general election
voter registration lists, voter history data, election
day polling places, early voting sites, and
absent voter ballot drop box locations for every election in every local
government in this state.
(d) The most recent general election
maps or other documentation of the configuration of precincts.
(e) Election day polling places and
early voting sites, including, but not limited to, lists of precincts
assigned to each election day polling place and early voting site, if applicable.
(f) Adopted districting or redistricting plans for every
election in every local government in this state.
(g) Any other data that the director of the database and
institute considers necessary to maintain in furtherance of the purposes of the
database and institute.
(5) The database and institute shall
implement rigorous cybersecurity standards for the election and voting data and
records maintained by the database and institute that are comparable to the
cybersecurity standards implemented by the department of technology,
management, and budget.
(6) After the required 12-year
period for making data, information, and estimates publicly available, as
described in subsection (4), all relevant election and voting data and records
must be permanently maintained in an electronic format by the database and
institute for archival purposes.
(7) The data, information,
and estimates maintained by the database and institute may, in the discretion of a court, be relied on as
evidence.
(8) No later than 180 days after an election, the
secretary of state shall transmit to the database and institute copies
of all of the following:
(a) Election results at the precinct level.
(b) The most recent general election
voter registration lists.
(c) Voter history data.
(d) Maps, descriptions, and shapefiles for election districts.
(e) Lists of election day polling places and early voting sites, shapefiles, or descriptions
of the precincts assigned to each election day polling place and early voting site.
(9) Subject to this subsection, all
state agencies and local governments shall timely provide the secretary of
state with any publicly available election and
voting data and records that are reasonably requested
by the secretary of state. Before the secretary of
state requests any publicly available election and voting data and records from
state agencies and local governments under this subsection, the secretary of
state must consult with the director of the database and institute, the
Michigan Association of County Clerks, and the Michigan Association of
Municipal Clerks. Upon receiving any publicly available election and voting
data and records from state agencies and local governments under this
subsection, the secretary of state shall transfer those publicly available
election and voting data and records in a timely manner to the database and
institute.
(10) Subject to this subsection, the
secretary of state shall reimburse each local government for the cost of
providing any requested election and voting data and records to the secretary
of state as required under subsection (9). The reimbursement of a local
government must not exceed the allowable costs to the local government as
described in section 4 of the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL
15.234. To qualify for reimbursement, a local government must submit a verified
account of its allowable costs to the secretary of state no later than 90 days
after the requested election and voting data and records are provided to the
secretary of state. No later than 90 days after the secretary of state receives
a verified account of allowable costs from a local government as provided under
this subsection, the secretary of state shall pay or disapprove the verified
account.
(11) Notwithstanding any other
provision of law to the contrary, after a local government has provided any
requested election and voting data and records to the secretary of state as
required under subsection (9), and those election and voting data and records
have been posted on the institute's website as provided under subsection (4),
that local government is no longer obligated to provide those election and
voting data and records in response to a written request under the freedom of
information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. If that local government
receives a written request from a person under the freedom of information act,
1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246, for election and voting data and records as
described in this subsection, the local government shall, within 10 business
days after receiving the written request, give written notice to the requesting
person that the request for the election and voting data and records must be
submitted to the database and institute.
(12) The attorney general,
the director of the database and institute, or a designee of the attorney
general or director may file an action to enforce compliance with this section.
(13) No later than 90 days
following the end of each state fiscal year, the database and institute shall
publish a report on the priorities and finances of the database and institute.
(14) Subsections (2) to (13) take effect May 5, 2028.
Enacting section 1.
This 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.