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SENATE BILL NO. 943
A bill to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled
"Michigan election law,"
by amending sections 31a and 822 (MCL 168.31a and 168.822), section
31a as amended by 2023 PA 254 and section 822 as amended by 2024 PA
74.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 31a. (1) In order to ensure compliance with the 1
provisions of this act, after each election the secretary of state 2
may shall audit election precincts. 3
(2) The secretary of state shall prescribe the procedures for 4
May 07, 2026, Introduced by Senator MCBROOM and referred to Committee on Elections and
Ethics.
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election audits that include reviewing the documents, ballots, and 1
procedures used during an election as required in section 4 of 2
article II of the state constitution of 1963. The secretary of 3
state and, except as otherwise provided under subsection (3), (6), 4
county clerks shall conduct election audits, including statewide 5
election audits, as set forth in the prescribed procedures. Each 6
county clerk, or the designee of a county clerk as provided under 7
subsection (6), who conducts an election audit shall provide the 8
results of the election audit to the secretary of state not later 9
than 20 days after the election audit. 10
(3) The secretary of state shall train and certify county 11
clerks, the county clerk's staffs, and, if required under 12
subsection (3), (6), the designee of a county clerk , for the 13
purpose of conducting election tabulation audits of precincts 14
randomly selected by the secretary of state in the counties. An 15
election The secretary of state shall randomly select precincts 16
from each county for the tabulation audit that total 1% of the 17
registered electors in the county, or 3 precincts in the county, 18
whichever is greater. Each tabulation audit must include an audit a 19
hand tally of the results of at least 1 race in each selected 20
precinct. selected for an audit. A statewide election tabulation 21
audit must include an audit a hand tally of the results of at least 22
1 statewide race or statewide ballot question in a each selected 23
precinct. selected for an audit. An audit conducted under this 24
section is not a recount and does not change any certified election 25
results. For each presidential election, the tabulation audit must 26
include a hand tally of the results of the presidential contest in 27
each selected precinct. 28
(4) The results of a tabulation audit conducted under 29
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subsection (3) must be compared to the unofficial election returns. 1
Each county clerk, or the designee of a county clerk as provided 2
under subsection (6), who conducts a tabulation audit shall submit 3
a report regarding the tabulation audit results to the appropriate 4
board of county canvassers and the secretary of state before the 5
board of county canvassers certifies the results of any election as 6
provided under section 822. If there is a discrepancy reported 7
between the tabulation audit results and the unofficial election 8
returns that cannot be resolved, the county clerk, the designee of 9
the county clerk as provided under subsection (6), or the secretary 10
of state may require tabulation audits of additional precincts 11
before the board of county canvassers certifies the results of any 12
election as provided under section 822. Once the tabulation audit 13
is complete, the board of county canvassers must use the results of 14
the tabulation audit when certifying the results of the election as 15
provided under section 822. 16
(5) The secretary of state shall supervise each county clerk, 17
or the county clerk's designee as provided under subsection (3), 18
(6), in the performance of election audits and tabulation audits 19
conducted under this section. 20
(6) (3) If a county clerk is an officer or member of the 21
governing body of a national, state, or local political party, or 22
is a precinct delegate of a political party, that county clerk is 23
prohibited from having any role in the direction, supervision, or 24
conduct of an election audit or tabulation audit, and that county 25
clerk must, subject to this subsection, appoint a designee to 26
conduct any election audit in that county. The county clerk shall 27
not appoint a designee who is an officer or member of the governing 28
body of a national, state, or local political party, or is a 29
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precinct delegate of a political party. 1
(4) Each county clerk, or the designee of a county clerk as 2
provided under subsection (3), who conducts an election audit under 3
this section shall provide the results of the election audit to the 4
secretary of state within 20 days after the election audit. 5
Sec. 822. (1) The board of county canvassers shall then 6
proceed without delay to canvass the returns of votes cast for all 7
candidates for offices voted for and all questions voted on at the 8
election, according to the precinct returns, early voting returns, 9
and absent voter counting board returns filed with the probate 10
judge or presiding probate judge by the county, city, and township 11
clerks, or for local elections according to the precinct returns 12
filed with the county clerk, and according to any corrected returns 13
based on the tabulation audit results reported under section 31a, 14
and must, subject to this subsection, conclude the canvass at the 15
earliest possible time and, except as otherwise provided in section 16
842(2), in every case no later than the fourteenth day after the 17
election. The board of county canvassers shall not conclude the 18
canvass until the tabulation audit required under section 31a is 19
complete. 20
(2) Subject to section 842(2), if the board of county 21
canvassers fails to certify the results of any election for any 22
officer or proposition by the fourteenth day after the election as 23
provided, the board of county canvassers shall immediately deliver 24
to the secretary of the board of state canvassers all records and 25
other information pertaining to the election. Subject to section 26
842(2) and (3), the board of state canvassers shall meet 27
immediately and make the necessary determinations and certify the 28
results not later than the twentieth day after the election. The 29
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board of county canvassers and all other county staff necessary to 1
complete the canvass must be present at all times during the 2
completion of the canvass by the board of state canvassers. All 3
costs associated with the completion of the canvass must be borne 4
by the county involved. 5
(3) It is the ministerial, clerical, and nondiscretionary duty 6
of each board of county canvassers, and each of the members of the 7
board of county canvassers, to certify election results based 8
solely on the statements of returns from the election day 9
precincts, early voting sites, and absent voter counting boards in 10
the county and any corrected returns. 11
(4) As used in this section and section 842, "to certify" 12
means to make a signed, written statement. 13