VOTER PREREGISTRATION S.B. 274:
SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 274 (as introduced 3-24-21)
Committee: Elections and Government Reform
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Michigan Election Law to do the following:
-- Allow an individual between the ages of 16 and 17-1/2 to preregister to vote if he or she had a graduated license status or an official State identification (ID) card and was a United States citizen.
-- Authorize the Secretary of State (SOS) to create a preregistration to vote application.
-- Allow an individual who had preregistered to vote to become a registered elector once he or she became 17-1/2 years of age and would be eligible to voter at the first election after he or she became 18 years of age.
-- Require the SOS to transmit application to the appropriate city or township clerk and transmit the electronic data to the qualified voter file.
-- Require a preregistration application to be held in a separate file and prohibit it from being moved to the master file until the filer became 17-1/2 years of age.
-- Require the SOS to verify that a preregistered individual, once he or she became 17-1/2 years of age, was not deceased, or had not moved to another State.
-- Require the SOS to cancel an individual's preregistration if that individual was deceased or had moved to another state.
-- Require the SOS to send a notice through the qualified voter file to the appropriate city or township clerk when a preregistered elector became 17-1/2 years of age and require that clerk to send that individual a voter identification card.
-- Require a city or township clerk to add a preregistered voter's information to the master file when that voter became 17-1/2 years of age.
Under the bill, an individual could preregister to vote at a Secretary of State office if he or she met all of the following requirements:
-- Was at least 16 years old, but not more than 17-1/2 years old.
-- Had been issued either a graduated licensing status to operate a vehicle, or an official State personal ID card.
-- Was a U.S. citizen.
The SOS would be authorized to create a preregistration to vote application. An individual would be required to preregister to vote on the application prescribed by the SOS.
An individual who preregistered to vote would become a registered elector at 17-1/2 years of age and would be eligible to vote at the first election after he or she became 18 years of age.
Immediately after receiving a preregistration-to-vote application, the SOS would have to transmit it to the appropriate city or township clerk and transmit the electronic data for that application to the qualified voter file. The application would have to be held in a separate file and could not be moved to the master file until the individual who applied became 17-1/2 years of age.
When an individual who had preregistered to vote became 17-1/2 years of age, the SOS would have to do both of the following:
-- Review information obtained through the U.S. Social Security Administration's death master file to determine if the individual who preregistered to vote was deceased.
-- Review information obtained through any multistate program, service, or compact that Michigan participated in to determine if the individual who preregistered to vote had moved to another state.
If the SOS determined that an individual who had preregistered was deceased or had moved to another state, the SOS would have to cancel the preregistration for that individual. When an individual who preregistered to vote became 17-1/2 years of age, the SOS would have to send notice through the qualified voter file to the appropriate city or township clerk directing the clerk to send a voter ID card to the individual who preregistered to vote. The city or township clerk who received a notice from the SOS would have to send a voter ID card to the individual who preregistered and would have to add that individual to the master file.
Proposed MCL 168.496a Legislative Analyst: Dana Adams
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill could have a negative fiscal impact on the Department of State. Costs for the Department to create and make available a preregistration to vote application for teens aged 16 to 17-1/2 years old likely would be minimal and would be absorbed within Department appropriations.
However, costs associated with the verification of a preregistered voter's status with the US Social Security Administration; costs for information obtained through a recognized multistate program; and costs for notifying the appropriate city or township clerk that a preregistered voter should be sent a voter identification card because the preregistered voter had reached age 17-1/2 could surpass the Department's capacity. Depending on the Department's resource capabilities, additional FTEs could be required. The average total cost for salary, benefits, and retirement for a State civil servant is an estimated $121,600 Gross, $65,900 General Fund/General Purpose. Additionally, programming costs for the Qualified Voter File to keep separate the preregistered voter information from the master Qualified Voter File could be substantial and would depend on the programming required. These additional costs likely could not be absorbed within the Department's annual appropriations and would require additional funding.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.