Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.747 (2026)

Contested election; challenged voters' ballots, identification in court.

✓ current as of July 2026
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MICHIGAN ELECTION LAW


Act 116 of 1954


168.747 Contested election; challenged voters' ballots, identification in court.

Sec. 747.

    In case of a contested election, on the trial thereof before any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall be competent for either party to the cause to have produced in court the ballot boxes, ballots and poll books used at the election out of which the cause has arisen, and to introduce evidence proving or tending to prove that any person named on such poll lists was an unqualified voter at the election aforesaid, and that the ballot of such person was received. On such trial, the correspondence of the number endorsed on a ballot as herein provided with the number of the ballot placed opposite the name of any person on the poll lists shall be received as prima facie proof that such ballot was cast by such person: Provided, That the ballot of no person shall be inspected or identified under the provisions of this chapter unless such person shall consent thereto in writing, or unless such person has been convicted of falsely swearing in such ballot, or unless the fact that such person was an unqualified elector at the time of casting such ballot has been determined.

History: 1954, Act 116, Eff. June 1, 1955

PopularName Notes:

Election Code
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2007–2026 · leading case: In Re Request for Advisory Opinion Regarding Constitutionality of 2005 Pa 71, 740 N.W.2d 444 (Mich. 2007).
In Re Request for Advisory Opinion Regarding Constitutionality of 2005 Pa 71, 740 N.W.2d 444 (Mich. 2007). · cites it 2× “" The ballot cast by a challenged voter is marked (and the mark subsequently concealed) with a number corresponding to the voter's poll list number, and is counted as a regular ballot.”
Promote the Vote v. Sec'y of State (Mich. Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 4× “727] and must be counted as any other ballot is counted unless determined by a court of law under [MCL 168.747 or MCL 168.748] or any other applicable law.”
Muhith Mahmood v. City of Hamtramck (Mich. Ct. App. 2026). “[MCL 168.747.] Pursuant to Gracey, evidence demonstrating that the ballots were stored in an unsecured room overnight in violation of the procedures of the Michigan Election Law did not necessarily invalidate those ballots, “but merely subjected them to the challenged voter…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.