Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.720g — MI Code / Chapter 168 / Act Act-116-of-1954 / Section 168.720g
County agreement requirements; appointment of coordinator and election inspectors; days and hours of early voting; withdrawal from agreement.
Status: in_force

Sec. 720g.

(1) The secretary of state shall prescribe the provisions that must be included in a county agreement between 1 or more municipalities located in the same county and the county clerk of that county authorizing the county clerk to conduct early voting for each municipality that is a party to the agreement, with assistance from, and in consultation with, the clerk of each municipality that is a party to the agreement. The provisions must include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(a) The name of the county and the name of each municipality involved in the agreement.

(b) The number of precincts in each participating municipality.

(c) The name of the coordinator who will organize and monitor the administrative requirements of early voting.

(d) The process for determining the number of early voting sites needed, and the process for determining the location of each early voting site.

(e) The process for approving the early voting hours for the required 9 consecutive days of early voting, and the process for approving any additional days and hours of early voting.

(f) The communication strategy for informing electors of the opportunity for early voting, and for publicizing each early voting site, along with the dates and hours of operation of each early voting site, and which city or township is served by each early voting site.

(g) The process to ensure that the secretary of state has the information necessary to include the location, along with the dates and hours of operation, of each early voting site on the department of state's website.

(h) The process for developing the early voting budget and cost sharing and chargeback procedures.

(i) The process for determining the number of tabulators and early voting poll books that are necessary in each early voting site and the name of the county or municipality that will provide those tabulators and early voting poll books.

(j) The name of the board of election commissioners that will conduct testing of the electronic voting equipment.

(k) The name of the clerk, either the county clerk or a designated municipal clerk, who shall download the early voting poll book.

( l ) The supervision and staffing of each early voting site on each day of early voting.

(m) Information on how a receiving board or a group of election inspectors will be appointed to canvass the early vote returns on election day and report early voting results to the county clerk.

(n) The process for a participating municipality or county clerk to withdraw from the agreement.

(2) The county clerk shall appoint a coordinator to organize and monitor the administrative requirements of early voting. The coordinator may be the county clerk or a member of the county clerk's staff, or a municipal clerk, or a member of the municipal clerk's staff, that is party to the agreement. The coordinator shall provide oversight to ensure sufficient resources are available and are timely dispatched to each early voting site. The coordinator shall develop the early voting plan, in consultation with the clerks of participating municipalities to the county agreement.

(3) The county clerk shall designate which clerk, either the county clerk or a designated municipal clerk, shall download the early voting poll book.

(4) On request of the county clerk, a clerk of a participating municipality shall make available, to the extent possible, tabulators, early voting poll books, and ballot containers for conducting early voting.

(5) In accordance with section 662, the county clerk, after consulting the municipal clerks, shall submit each early voting site location to the board of county election commissioners for approval. Each early voting site submitted for approval may serve all electors covered by the county agreement, the electors in specific municipalities that are covered by an early voting site, the electors of 1 municipality, or any combination of these options, as long as each elector in the county is served by 1 or more early voting sites.

(6) A municipal clerk shall recruit election inspectors at the request of the county clerk, or shall provide the county clerk with the list of election inspectors for the clerk's municipality. The board of county election commissioners shall, in accordance with section 674, appoint election inspectors for early voting.

(7) The county clerk may appoint a participating municipal clerk or a member of the county clerk's staff to act as a supervisor for each day of early voting. The county clerk may appoint a different participating municipal clerk or a member of the county clerk's staff to act as a supervisor for different days of early voting. The supervisor shall operate in the same manner as a municipal clerk does for an election day polling place. A supervisor may delegate the supervisor's duties to a member of the supervisor's staff.

(8) For each federal and statewide election, there must be 1 or more early voting sites that are open to all the registered electors of each municipality that is a party to the county agreement.

(9) The county clerk may also offer early voting on additional days beyond the required 9 consecutive days as described in section 720b. The county clerk may set the hours for those additional days of early voting without regard to the required hours for early voting on the 9 consecutive days of early voting described in section 720b. Additional days of early voting as described in this subsection must take place on or after the twenty-ninth day before an election.

(10) The legislative body of a municipality that is party to a county agreement may adopt a resolution to conduct early voting in an election to be held in the municipality that is not a statewide or federal election. If a municipality adopts a resolution as provided in this subsection, the clerk of that municipality may conduct early voting for that election as provided under section 720e.

(11) A county clerk and the legislative body of 1 or more municipalities may enter into an agreement for the county clerk to conduct early voting in an election that is not a statewide or federal election. This section does not preclude a county clerk and a municipality from entering into an agreement for the county clerk to conduct early voting for an election in the municipality that is not a statewide or federal election. Early voting in those elections must be conducted under the requirements of this section, except that the required minimum of 9 consecutive days of early voting beginning on the second Saturday before the election and ending on the Sunday before the election, and the required minimum of 8 hours of early voting each day, do not apply.

(12) A county agreement covers all statewide and federal elections, and any additional elections included in the county agreement, for at least the entire year in which a general November election is held and the year following that general November election. Subject to this subsection, a county agreement may provide that the agreement has no fixed termination date. Subject to this subsection, a party to a county agreement may withdraw from the county agreement by providing at least 30 days' written notice to the other parties to the agreement. A party to a county agreement may not withdraw from the county agreement during the period beginning 150 days before the first statewide general November election in an even numbered year and ending on the completion of the county canvass for that statewide general November election in that even numbered year. If any county agreement covers any election in addition to the statewide and federal elections, a party to that county agreement may not withdraw from the county agreement during the period beginning 150 days before the election covered under the county agreement and ending on the completion of the county canvass for that election.

History: Add. 2023, Act 81, Eff. Feb. 13, 2024