Act No. 251

Public Acts of 2023

Approved by the Governor

November 30, 2023

Filed with the Secretary of State

December 1, 2023

EFFECTIVE DATE:  February 13, 2024

 

state of michigan

102nd Legislature

Regular session of 2023

Introduced by Senators Geiss and Moss

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 385

AN ACT to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled “An act to reorganize, consolidate, and add to the election laws; to provide for election officials and prescribe their powers and duties; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, state agencies, and state and local officials and employees; to provide for the nomination and election of candidates for public office; to provide for the resignation, removal, and recall of certain public officers; to provide for the filling of vacancies in public office; to provide for and regulate primaries and elections; to provide for the purity of elections; to guard against the abuse of the elective franchise; to define violations of this act; to provide appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal certain acts and all other acts inconsistent with this act,” by amending section 677 (MCL 168.677), as amended by 2018 PA 120.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 677. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4), a precinct election inspector must be a qualified and registered elector of this state, must have a good reputation, and must have sufficient education and clerical ability to perform the duties of the office. An individual must not be appointed to a board of election inspectors unless the individual has filed an application with the county clerk or the city or township clerk in the county where the individual wishes to serve as a precinct election inspector.

(2) The application must contain the applicant’s name, home address, ward and precinct registration if any, date of birth, political party affiliation, education, employment, and other experience qualifications. The application must provide a certification that the applicant is not a member or a known active advocate, as that term is defined in section 674, of a political party other than the political party entered on the application. The form of the application under this section must be approved by the state director of elections. A county, city, or township clerk may allow an applicant for precinct election inspector to file an application through an online application portal or by other electronic means. The clerk shall maintain a file of applications filed under this section and make the applications available for public inspection at the clerk’s office during normal business hours.

(3) An individual must not be knowingly appointed or permitted to act as a precinct election inspector if the individual or any member of the individual’s immediate family is a candidate for nomination or election to any office at the election or has been convicted of a felony or election crime. An individual must not be permitted to act as a precinct election inspector if the individual has failed to attend a school of instruction or failed to take an examination as provided in section 683. This section does not prohibit the candidate for or delegate to a political party convention from acting as a precinct election inspector in a precinct other than the precinct in which that individual resides. An election must not be invalidated merely because of the violation of the provisions of this section.

(4) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subject to subsection (5), an individual who is 16 or 17 years of age may be appointed to a board of election inspectors. Before an individual may be appointed under this subsection, the first 3 members of the board of election inspectors required to be appointed under section 672 must meet the requirements of subsections (1) to (3). An individual who is appointed under this subsection must meet the requirements of subsections (1) to (3) other than being a qualified and registered elector of this state. An individual who is appointed under this subsection is not eligible to be designated as chairperson of the board of election inspectors under section 674.

(5) If an individual seeking appointment to a board of election inspectors under subsection (4) is attending a K-12 school and if an election falls on a school day, the individual shall provide to the clerk, along with the application filed under subsections (1) and (2), a written document from the individual’s school specifically acknowledging that individual’s application for appointment to the board of election inspectors and specifically excusing that individual from school on the date of service, if the appointment is made.

A close-up of a signature

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Secretary of the Senate

 

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved___________________________________________

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Governor