Vetoed by Governor Rick Snyder

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires voters to present photo identification for absentee ballots

Highlights:

• Requires the Secretary of State to make a poster that explains “ballot coaching” and that “ballot coaching” is prohibited, and to provide at least one poster to each “residential care facility” in the state.

• Specifies that a “residential care facility” refers to either a nursing home or a home for the aged.

• Requires the director or owner of a residential care facility to display the poster in a public place beginning 45 days prior to each election and continuing through Election Day.

• Requires that for a voter to obtain an absent voter ballot they must present a “generally recognized picture identification card” to a clerk of the town or city in which the voter is registered

• Requires an elector to sign an affidavit before the clerk in order to obtain his or her absent voter ballot if he or she does not have a form of picture identification.

• Requires the clerk to indicate to each elector who obtains an absent voter ballot in person that the elector may sign an affidavit indicating that he or she does not have photo identification.

• Requires an absent voter ballot to be prepared as a “challenged ballot” if an elector obtains an absent voter ballot and votes without providing the identification required.

• Requires the clerk of a city or town that has access to the Ballot Tracker Program provided by the state to utilize the program by allowing voters to track their absent voter ballots online.

• Requires that a report from each county detailing the number of affidavits signed by voters who did not present proper identification be immediately available for public inspection after the Secretary of State receives the reports from the county clerks no more than 14 days after an election.

Full Bill Text