168.37 Uniform voting system; advisory committee; selection; notice of selection; schedule for acquisition and implementation; repetition of process.

520 words·~2 min read·/mi/chapter-168/168-37

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Sec. 37.

(1)The secretary of state shall select a uniform voting system under the provisions of this section. The secretary of state shall convene an advisory committee on the selection of the uniform voting system, whose membership represents county, city, and township election officials and other relevant organizations. In addition, the speaker and minority leader of the house of representatives and the majority and minority leaders of the senate may each appoint 1 advisory committee member.

(2)The secretary of state may conduct tests of a voting system in order to select the uniform voting system. The secretary of state shall not consider a voting system for selection as the uniform voting system unless the voting system is approved and certified as provided in section 795a. At the secretary of state's request, the board of state canvassers shall perform the approval and certification review, as provided in section 795a, of a voting system that the secretary of state wants to consider for selection as the uniform voting system.

(3)When the uniform voting system is selected or at an earlier time that the secretary of state considers advisable, the secretary of state shall notify each county, city, and township about the selection or impending selection of the uniform voting system. A governmental unit that is notified under this subsection shall not purchase or enter into a contract to purchase a voting system other than the uniform voting system after receipt of the notice.

(4)After selection of the uniform voting system, the secretary of state shall establish a schedule for acquisition and implementation of the uniform voting system throughout this state. The secretary of state may devise a schedule that institutes the uniform voting system over several election cycles. The secretary of state shall widely publicize the schedule and changes to the schedule. If, however, a jurisdiction has acquired a new voting system within 8 years before the jurisdiction receives notice from the secretary of state under subsection (3), that jurisdiction is not required to acquire and use the uniform voting system until the expiration of 10 years after the date of the original purchase of the equipment.

(5)If, after selection of the uniform voting system, the secretary of state determines that the uniform voting system no longer serves the welfare of the voters or has become out of date in regards to voting system technology, the secretary of state may repeat the process for selecting the uniform voting system authorized under this section.

(6)This section does not apply until money is appropriated for the purpose of selecting, acquiring, and implementing the uniform voting system. If federal money becomes available for the purposes described in this section, the secretary of state shall, and the legislature intends to, take the steps necessary to qualify for and appropriate that money for the purposes described in this section.

History: Add. 2002, Act 91 , Eff. Apr. 9, 2002 ;-- Am. 2018, Act 120 , Eff. Dec. 31, 2018

Popular Name: Election Code