Michigan clerks, sponsor urge uniform swearing-in date to ensure late ballots are counted

Representative Jamie Hoadley, sponsor of a four‑bill package, told the Michigan House Committee on Election Integrity that the bills aim to ensure local officials are not sworn in before all ballots that were properly postmarked are counted.

Hoadley said the proposals respond to the 2022 constitutional change known as Proposal 2 and its implementing law, Senate Bill 259 (Public Act 25 of 2023), which allow military and overseas ballots postmarked on or before election day to be counted if received within six days after the election.

"Technical fix ensures all votes are counted before a winning candidate assumes his office position," Representative Jamie Hoadley said, describing the bills as "pretty cut, cut and dry" and saying they would move the swearing‑in date for most city, township and village officials to no sooner than Dec. 1.

Mary Clark, Delta Township clerk and a representative of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks, told the committee her jurisdiction received seven military/overseas ballots after Election Day in a recent cycle that had to be added manually to totals. Clark said current local swearing‑in dates vary widely: some townships take office Nov. 20, East Lansing holds swearing‑in the Monday after the election, and Lansing takes office Jan. 1. She said shifting most local start dates to Dec. 1 would create consistency and avoid situations where officials are sworn in before close contests are finally canvassed and certified.

"This brings some consistency," Clark said. "...to avoid any confusion or any embarrassing moments where someone's sworn in that actually is in a close election and move ballot tallies change that."

Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Kent County clerk, told the panel she supported the package to preserve the canvass process and avoid a situation in which a person sworn into office had not yet been certified following recounts or other post‑election procedures. Lyons said the longer canvass times driven by the statutory six‑day receipt window and other post‑election processes make the timing mismatch possible.

Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown urged the committee to pass the bills and said she would like immediate effect so the change could apply before November elections with local contests. Tyrone Township Clerk Dolan Behr said the change would also give newly elected local officials extra time for training and to receive official certification mailings.

There was no formal vote on the bills in the hearing; the committee took testimony from the sponsor and multiple local clerks and stakeholders. Earlier in the session Representative Hoadley moved to adopt the minutes from June 24; that motion prevailed by unanimous consent.

Why it matters: Under current practice, local jurisdictions must wait up to six days to include military and overseas ballots that arrive after election day but are postmarked by election day. Because some local charters and ordinances set officialsswearing‑in dates before that window closes, a candidate could be sworn into office before all lawful ballots are canvassed and certified.

What the bills would do: The four bills in the package would move the start dates for most city, township and village officials to Dec. 1 (while allowing jurisdictions with later charter dates, such as Lansing's Jan. 1, to remain). Proponents described the change as a "technical fix" intended to align canvass timelines and swearing‑in dates.

Outlook: Supporters from municipal clerks associations and county clerks urged quick action, with some asking for immediate effect to apply the change in the coming November elections. No committee vote on the bills was recorded during this hearing.