Senate passes multiple election reforms

In mid-February, the state Senate passed a multitude of election reforms. The reforms consist of a combination of reforms as proposed by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson as part of her Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) initiative, as well as additional reforms pertaining to the Michigan Election Law and the Michigan Campaign Finance Act. The reforms are contained in Senate Bills 750-754, 803 and 823-825.

 

SB 750, introduced by Sen. Dave Robertson (R-Grand Blanc Chtr. Twp.), strengthens campaign finance laws to crack down on those who fail to file campaign finance reports or improperly file reports. Specifically, the bill allows the seizure of campaign funds if a candidate  committee’s account has a balance of $20,000 or more and the candidate, treasurer or other individuals responsible fail to file the post-election campaign statement and the next annual campaign statement required under law. The bill outlines the process that the state would take to seize campaign funds as well as the appeals process. A related bill, SB 753, introduced by Sen. Jack Brandenburg (R-Harrison Chtr. Twp.), would provide for a statutory maximum jail time of three years for failure to file certain campaign finance statements.

 

SB 751, also introduced by Sen. Robertson, pertains more to election administration. The bill calls for the creation of an inactive voter file, which MTA has supported for years. The bill lays out the process to be used by the secretary of state (SOS) to determine whether a voter can be placed in an inactive voter file. Specifically, if a voter does not vote for six consecutive years, the voter’s registration record would be placed in the inactive file until or if the voter votes at an election.  The bill also states that if the SOS receives notice that a registered voter has moved out of state by receiving a surrendered Michigan driver’s license, the secretary, through a process outlined in the bill, can begin the procedure to cancel the voter registration if the voter fails to vote within two November general elections.

 

SB 751 also would require a photo ID in order to pick up an absentee voter (AV) ballot, similar to what is currently required when voting at the polls. Minus a photo ID, the voter could sign an affidavit to obtain the AV ballot but the ballot would be treated as a challenged ballot. Finally, the bill requires clerks with access to the state’s ballot tracker program to utilize the program to allow voters to track their AV ballots online.

 

SB 752, introduced by Sen. Goeff Hansen (R-Hart Twp.), stipulates that in any community, other than Detroit, that utilizes AV counting boards, the ballot form of an AV counting board shall correspond to the ballot form of the election precinct for which it was established. In other words, the ballot would appear exactly the same. Election inspectors would then report the Election Day precinct returns, the corresponding AV counting board returns and a total for the two together.

 

SB 754, introduced by Sen. Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Chtr. Twp.), would require a third-party organization to register with the SOS before engaging in any voter registration activities and requires agents employed by or volunteering for the organization to sign a statement that certifies that the agent will comply with all state laws and rules concerning the registration of electors. The bill also requires the SOS to develop a voter registration training program for third-party voter registration organizations that teaches the proper procedure for taking a voter registration application. The bill also calls for an applicant’s voter registration application to be promptly delivered to the clerk of the county, city or township where the applicant resides. MTA worked with interested parties to set a specific deadline of 15 days that an application would need to be returned to the clerk to ensure that local clerks would not be inundated with hoards of applications at one time just prior to the voter registration deadline.

 

SB 803, introduced by Sen. Darwin Booher (R-Osceola Twp.), would require an application to vote to include an affirmative statement by the elector that he or she is a citizen of the United States. The bill would also require an application for an AV ballot to question whether the applicant is a U.S. citizen and to prohibit a clerk from issuing an AV ballot to a person who indicated that he or she is not a U.S. citizen. Furthermore, the bill would require a clerk to issue an AV ballot to a person who did not answer the citizenship question, and to include a notice that if the person has not answered the question, the ballot would not be counted unless he or she answered it before the polls closed on Election Day. There is a requirement contained in the bill that requires the Department of State to prepare and provide to each city, township and village clerk copies of the notice mentioned above.

 

Aside from the SAFE initiative reform bills, other election reforms passed by the Senate include SBs 823-825.

 

SBs 823- 825 were all introduced by Sen. Robertson. SB 823 has multiple changes contained within the bill. It would require the sponsor of a petition proposing to amend the state Constitution or to initiate legislation to file the petition or an amended petition with the SOS and prohibit the sponsor from circulating the petition or an amended petition for signatures until it was filed as required. The bill would also require the SOS to post the most recent submission of filed petition language on the Department of State’s website. Under the bill, these requirements would become effective Jan. 1, 2013.

 

The bill would also make it a misdemeanor for a person paid by a local unit of government for performing election-related duties, to accept valuable consideration for performing work to support or oppose the nomination or election of a candidate or the passage or defeat of a ballot proposal if that candidate or proposal appeared on the ballot in that local unit from which that individual receives compensation for performing election-related duties. Further, the bill would make it a misdemeanor to solicit or receive compensation or valuable consideration for endorsing or opposing a candidate for public office, political committee, or political party. The bill also makes it a felony to compensate an individual based on the number of people he or she registers to vote, or registers to vote in a particular political party.

 

The bill would also require ballots to be reprinted with the replacement candidate’s name when a vacancy is left on the ballot by a candidate who dies. The bill would eliminate the reference to a city or township committee but rather refer to the county committee in provisions regarding the death of a political party’s candidate for local office. In the case of a city, district, or ward or township office, it provides that a candidate vacancy would have to be filled by the county executive committee members who reside in that local unit if at least three members reside in that unit. If there isn’t a minimum of three members, the vacancy would be filled by the entire county executive committee.

 

The bill would also move the deadline for a candidate to file the required nominating petitions or affidavit of identity, which is currently either the 12^th (for most offices) or 14^th (for judicial offices) Tuesday before the primary election, to the 15^th Tuesday before the primary election, beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

 

SB 825 would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to add to the sentencing guidelines the felonies proposed under SB 823. Under the bill, providing compensation to a person for registering individuals to vote and intentionally misrepresenting oneself as an election official in a polling place would be Class E felonies punishable by a maximum for five years’ imprisonment. SB 825 is tie-barred to SB 823.

 

SB 824 would make several amendments to the Michigan Campaign Finance Act. The bill would increase the civil fine imposed for an improper contribution or expenditure and would revise the late filing fee for a failure to report a “late contribution.” It revises the definition of late contribution from a contribution of at least $200 received after the closing date of the last campaign statement required to be filed before an election, to contributions with a cumulative total from the same contributor of at least $500, and makes additional changes to the reporting process for a late contribution.

 

The bill also states that if a ballot question committee is registered with the SOS and is supporting or opposing a nonstatewide ballot question or a committee registered with the SOS is supporting or opposing the recall of a local officeholder, that committee is only required to file the campaign statement with the SOS and thus not with the county clerk.

 

Additional bills introduced in the House to implement other reforms contained in the SAFE initiative have yet to see major action to date.