ELECTION CONVEYANCE; ALLOW H.B. 4568:
SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
House Bill 4568 (as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Karen Whitsett
Senate Committee: Elections and Ethics
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Michigan Election Law to delete the prohibition against a person hiring transportation to take non-disabled voters to the polls.
Currently, the Law prohibits an individual from hiring a motor vehicle or other transportation or causing transportation to be hired for conveying voters, other than voters physically unable to walk, to an election. An individual who violates this prohibition is guilty of a misdemeanor. The bill would delete this provision.
PREVIOUS LEGISLATION
(This section does not provide a comprehensive account of previous legislative efforts on this subject matter.)
The bill is similar to House Bill 5516 of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session.
Legislative Analyst: Abby Schneider
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill could result in savings for local units of government as providing transportation to voters on election day would no longer result in a misdemeanor offense. Depending on the number of such incidences that no longer would be considered a misdemeanor, local governments could see a savings from reduced jail costs as well as costs for local law enforcement and courts as they would no longer be required to prosecute these cases. Additionally, penal fine revenue that goes to local and county law libraries would be lost as those fines would no longer be collected. The amount of savings is indeterminate and depends on the number of cases no longer prosecuted as well as the costs for local jails as they vary by jurisdiction.
Fiscal Analyst: Joe Carrasco, Jr.
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.