The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 5012 February 15, 1977 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS: Non-registration school districts CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN: Art 2, Sec. 4 ELECTIONS: Absentee voting The failure of the provision in the school code to permit absentee voting in a non-registration school district denies citizens residing therein their constitutional right to vote by absentee ballot. Consequently, electors in such school districts may vote by absentee ballot in accordance with the procedures followed in registration school districts. Honorable Bela E. Kennedy State Representative The Capitol Lansing, Michigan You have requested my opinion on two questions which may be phrased as follows: 1. Is the failure of Article 2, Part 12 of 1976 PA 451; MCLA 380.1001 et seq; MSA 15.41001 et seq, to provide a method of absentee voting in non-registration school districts a violation of Const 1963, art 2, Sec. 4? 2. If your answer to question 1 is yes, what procedure should be used for absentee voting in a non-registration district? Const 1963, art 2, Sec. 4 decrees in pertinent part: 'The legislature shall enact laws to regulate the time, place and manner of all nominations and elections, except as otherwise provided in this constitution or in the constitution and laws of the United States. The legislature shall enact laws to preserve the purity of elections, to preserve the secrecy of the ballot, to guard against abuses of the elective franchise, and to provide for a system of voter registration and absentee voting. . . .' (emphasis added) In Arlee v Wayne County Sheriff, 55 Mich App 340, 344; 222 NW2d 233, 236 (1974), the Court of Appeals considered the absentee voting rights of pre-trial detainees in the Wayne County Jail stating: '. . . Const 1963, art 2, Sec. 4 provides that '[t]he legislature shall enact laws to provide for a system of voter registration and absentee voting; thus, Michigan citizens have a constitutional right to vote by an absentee ballot.' It should also be noted that in Hill v Covert Public School District No 18, (May 24, 1976), the Van Buren Circuit Court ruled that the failure to provide a method of absentee voting in non-registration school districts was a violation of Const 1963, art 2, Sec. 4 (a1). The Court further ruled that the procedure to be used for absentee voters in non-registration school districts is the method followed in registration school districts, pursuant to 1955 PA 269, Part 2, Chapter 8. Those procedures are now contained in 1976 PA 269, Article 2, Part 13; MCLA 380.1051 et seq; MSA 15.41051 et seq. It is, therefore, my opinion that the failure of Article 2, Part 12 of 1976 PA 451, supra, to provide a method of registration and absentee voting in nonregistration school districts denies citizens residing therein their constitutional right to vote by absentee ballot as provided for in Const 1963, art 2, Sec. 4. I, therefore, strongly urge the legislature to clarify the law by amending 1976 PA 451, Article 2, Part 13, making it applicable to all school districts. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General (a1)