Michigan Compiled Laws
116-1954-XXVIII-ABSENT-VOTERS - Absent Voters (168.758...168.769a)
Section 168.761d - Absent Voter Ballot Drop Box; Requirements; Collection of Ballots From the Drop Box; Inspections; Transportation of Absent Voter Ballot Return Envelopes.

Sec. 761d.
(1) By October 20, 2022, an absent voter ballot drop box must meet all of the following requirements:
(a) Be clearly labeled as an absent voter ballot drop box.
(b) Whether located indoors or outdoors, be securely locked and be designed to prevent the removal of absent voter ballots when locked.
(c) If located in an area that is not continuously staffed, be secured to prevent the removal of the absent voter ballot drop box from its location.
(2) By October 20, 2022, if an absent voter ballot drop box is located outdoors, all of the following requirements apply:
(a) The drop box must be securely locked and bolted to the ground or to another stationary object.
(b) The drop box must be equipped with a single slot or mailbox-style lever to allow absent voter ballot return envelopes to be placed in the drop box, and all other openings on the drop box must be securely locked.
(c) For an absent voter ballot drop box that was not ordered or installed in a city or township before October 1, 2020, the city or township clerk must use video monitoring of that drop box to ensure effective monitoring of that drop box.
(d) The drop box must be in a publicly accessible, well-lit area with good visibility.
(e) The city or township clerk must immediately report to local law enforcement any vandalism involving the drop box or any suspicious activity occurring in the immediate vicinity of the drop box.
(3) Only a city or township clerk, the clerk's deputy clerk, or a sworn member of the clerk's staff is authorized to collect absent voter ballots from an absent voter ballot drop box.
(4) Beginning October 20, 2022 and until the 2022 general November election day, an individual who is authorized under subsection (3) must regularly inspect each absent voter ballot drop box used in that city or township to confirm that the absent voter ballot drop box complies with all of the requirements under this section. Beginning January 1, 2023, 75 days before each election and until election day, an individual who is authorized under subsection (3) must regularly inspect each absent voter ballot drop box used in that city or township to confirm that the absent voter ballot drop box complies with all of the requirements under this section.
(5) Beginning 15 days before each election and until election day, an individual who is authorized under subsection (3) must collect, on any day in which the city or township clerk's office is open for business, the election materials deposited in an absent voter ballot drop box located in the city or township.
(6) When an individual who is authorized under subsection (3) collects absent voter ballot return envelopes from an absent voter ballot drop box, that individual must, unless traveling from 1 absent voter ballot drop box to another absent voter ballot drop box, immediately return those collected absent voter ballot return envelopes to the city or township clerk's office.
(7) All absent voter ballot return envelopes collected from an absent voter ballot drop box must be transported in a ballot container approved under section 24j or in an absent voter ballot secrecy envelope container as described in section 24k.
(8) Beginning October 20, 2022, except for an absent voter ballot drop box that is located on the grounds of a city or township clerk's office, or in an official satellite office of the city or township clerk that is staffed by employees of the city or township clerk, the city or township clerk must document each time absent voter ballot return envelopes are collected from an absent voter ballot drop box in that city or township. The documentation required under this subsection must be preserved and maintained by the city or township clerk for not less than 22 months following the election for which the absent voter ballot return envelopes were collected and must include all of the following:
(a) The date the absent voter ballot return envelopes were collected from the absent voter ballot drop box.
(b) The total number of absent voter ballot return envelopes collected from the absent voter ballot drop box.
(c) The name of the individual who collected the absent voter ballot return envelopes from the absent voter ballot drop box.
(d) The location in the city or township of the absent voter ballot drop box.
History: Add. 2020, Act 177, Imd. Eff. Oct. 6, 2020 ;-- Am. 2022, Act 195, Imd. Eff. Oct. 7, 2022 Popular Name: Election Code