Early Voting Rights
Summary: The right, once registered, to vote in each statewide and federal election in person at an early voting site prior to election day
Voter rights (equality): Voters at early voting sites shall have the same rights and be subject to the same requirements as voters at polling places on election day
Site Definition
Classification: An early voting site is a polling place
Base requirements: Shall be subject to the same requirements as an election day polling place
Exceptions:
- May serve voters from more than six (6) precincts
- May serve voters from more than one (1) municipality within a county SERVICE DENSITY RISK Multi-municipality pooling increases load/lines and can reduce practical access.
- Any statutory limit on the number of voters assigned to a precinct shall not apply to an early voting site
Operational Requirements
Minimum duration: 9 consecutive days
Schedule start: second Saturday before the election
Schedule end: Sunday before the election
Daily hours minimum: 8 hours
Daily hours flexibility: may be open for additional days and hours beyond what is required herein at the discretion of the election official authorized to issue ballots in the jurisdiction conducting the election DISCRETIONARY VARIANCE Discretion creates uneven access across jurisdictions and becomes a predictable litigation/attack point.
Inter-Jurisdictional Cooperation
County sharing: Jurisdictions conducting elections within a county may enter into agreements to share early voting sites ACCESS CENTRALIZATION Consolidation can reduce access for rural, transit-limited, or geographically spread voters.
County clerk authorization: A jurisdiction conducting an election may enter into an agreement with the clerk of the county in which it is located authorizing the county clerk to conduct early voting for the jurisdiction
Non-Statewide Elections
Applicability: Jurisdictions conducting non-statewide elections may offer early voting for such elections in accordance with the provisions of this part (m) of subsection (4)(1)
Results Reporting
Restriction: No early voting results shall be generated or reported until after eight (8) pm on election day
General Provisions
Self-executing: All rights set forth in this subsection shall be self-executing
Construction: This subsection shall be liberally construed in favor of voters' rights in order to effectuate its purposes DIRECT CONFLICT TARGET This clause is a frequent target of restrictive amendments and narrowing interpretations.
Legislative expansion: Nothing contained in this subsection shall prevent the legislature from expanding voters' rights beyond what is provided herein
Severability: This subsection and any portion hereof shall be severable. If any portion of this subsection is held invalid or unenforceable as to any person or circumstance, that invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity, enforceability, or application of any other portion of this subsection
Legislative Authority Over Elections
Legislative powers:
- regulate the time, place, and manner of all nominations and elections
- preserve the purity of elections LOADED LANGUAGE “Purity” is vague and historically invoked to justify exclusionary or restrictive election policies.
- preserve the secrecy of the ballot
- guard against abuses of the elective franchise
- provide for a system of voter registration and absentee voting
Limitation: No law shall be enacted which permits a candidate in any partisan primary or partisan election to have a ballot designation except when required for identification of candidates for the same office who have the same or similar surnames
Exceptions: Except as otherwise provided in this constitution or in the constitution or laws of the United States
Charitable Donations for Elections
Permission: A county, city, or township conducting an election may accept and use publicly-disclosed charitable donations and in-kind contributions to conduct and administer elections POLITICIZED PRACTICE This has been repeatedly politicized and mischaracterized despite the disclosure framing.
Discretion: The county, city, or township shall retain discretion over whether to accept or use any such donations or contributions
Prohibition: Charitable donations and in-kind contributions of foreign funds or from foreign sources are prohibited
Provisions Altered
Article 2, Sec. 1
Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of 21 years, who has resided in this state six months, and who meets the requirements of local residence provided by law, shall be an elector and qualified to vote in any election except as otherwise provided in this constitution. The legislature shall define residence for voting purposes.
Article 2, Sec. 4
(1) Every citizen of the United States who is an elector qualified to vote in Michigan shall have the following rights:
Fundamental Right to Vote
The fundamental right to vote, including but not limited to the right, once registered, to vote a secret ballot in all elections
Prohibitions:
- enact or use any law, rule, regulation, qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure
- engage in any harassing, threatening, or intimidating conduct
- use any means whatsoever, any of which has the intent or effect of denying, abridging, interfering with, or unreasonably burdening the fundamental right to vote
Enforcement
Standing: Any Michigan citizen or citizens shall have standing to bring an action for declaratory, injunctive, and/or monetary relief to enforce the rights created by this part (a) of subsection (4)(1) on behalf of themselves
Venue: Those actions shall be brought in the circuit court for the county in which a plaintiff resides
Attorney fees: If a plaintiff prevails in whole or in part, the court shall award reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and disbursements
Definition of “person”: For purposes of this part (a) of subsection (4)(1), 'person' means an individual, association, corporation, joint stock company, labor organization, legal representative, mutual company, partnership, unincorporated organization, the state or a political subdivision of the state or an agency of the state, or any other legal entity, and includes an agent of a person
Military and Overseas Voter Rights
Eligibility: if serving in the military or living overseas
Ballot delivery: to have an absent voter ballot sent to them at least forty-five (45) days before an election upon application
Timely receipt: to have their absent voter ballot deemed timely received if postmarked on or before election day and received by the appropriate election official within six (6) days after such election
Postmark definition: For purposes of this part (b) of subsection (4)(1), a postmark shall include any type of mark applied by the United States Postal Service or any delivery service to the return envelope, including but not limited to a bar code or any tracking marks, which indicates when a ballot was mailed
Straight Party Voting
Availability: once registered, to a 'straight party' vote option on partisan general election ballots
Ballot design: In partisan elections, the ballot shall include a position at the top of the ballot by which the voter may, by a single selection, record a straight party ticket vote for all the candidates of one (1) party
Flexibility: The voter may vote a split or mixed ticket
Automatic Voter Registration
Trigger: as a result of conducting business with the secretary of state regarding a driver's license or personal identification card
Opt out: unless the person declines such registration
Mail-In Voter Registration
Method: by mailing a completed voter registration application
Deadline: on or before the fifteenth (15th) day before that election
Recipient: to an election official authorized to receive voter registration applications
In-Person Voter Registration
Option 1 method: appearing in person and submitting a completed voter registration application
Option 1 deadline: on or before the fifteenth (15th) day before that election
Option 1 recipient: to an election official authorized to receive voter registration applications
Option 2 timing: beginning on the fourteenth (14th) day before that election and continuing through the day of that election
Option 2 method: appearing in person, submitting a completed voter registration application and providing proof of residency
Option 2 recipient: to an election official responsible for maintaining custody of the registration file where the person resides, or their deputies
Eligibility: Persons registered in accordance with subsection (1)(f) shall be immediately eligible to receive a regular or absent voter ballot
Identity Verification for Voting
Context: when voting in person or applying for an absent voter ballot in person
Option 1: presenting their photo identification, including photo identification issued by a federal, state, local, or tribal government or an educational institution
Option 2: if they do not have photo identification or do not have it with them, executing an affidavit verifying their identity
Protection: A voter shall not be required to vote a provisional ballot solely because they executed an affidavit to prove their identity
No-Reason Absentee Voting
Main right: to vote an absent voter ballot without giving a reason, during the forty (40) days before an election
Choice: the right to choose whether the absent voter ballot is applied for, received and submitted in person or by mail
Availability: During that time, election officials authorized to issue absent voter ballots shall be available in at least one (1) location to issue and receive absent voter ballots during the election officials' regularly scheduled business