Absentee ballot requests on the rise
32% of registered voters seek mailin voting option
As the number of Michigan voters requesting absentee ballots surges, so does the number of residents registering to vote for the November election.
SinceAug. 5, more than 115,000 Michiganders have registered to vote, including over 15,000 in Oakland County alone. There are now 1,011,109 registered voters in Michigan’s second-largest county.
The number of voters that have requested an absentee ballot also continues to rise, with 2,556,166 absentee ballots requested. Over 2 million of those ballots have been
issued.
That new absentee ballot request total represents 32.4% of all registered voters in Michigan. The spike in absentee ballots is due to the passage of Proposal 3 in 2018, which allowed any voter inMichigantovote absentee and continued voter concerns about safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Voterswho have requested an absentee ballot are being encouraged to cast their ballots as soon as possible by mail or in-person to their local ballot drop box or clerk’s office. You can find your local ballot drop box location by visiting Michigan.gov/ Vote and entering your information under the “Your Clerk” section.
Local drop box locations can also be found at https:// www. michigandropbox. com/counties.html, a website launched by Voters Not Politicians and All Voting Is Local.
AfterOct. 19, the Secretary of State’s Office is strongly encouraging voters to return ballots in-person, not by mail, due to continued concerns about the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) ability to deliver ballots in a timely manner amid major operational changes, includingtheshuttingdownofmail sorting equipment.
Inaddition, voterswishing to vote absentee afterOct. 19 are being encouraged to go directly to their clerk’s office in person if possible, where they can receive their ballot and vote it while they are there.
The 2.5 million absentee ballots requested for theNov. 3 presidential election represents a 350% increase compared to 36 days before the 2016 general election. The 2 million ballots issued represents a 400% increase from 2016.
Michigan voters can fill out an absentee ballot application online at Michigan. gov/Vote or by visiting their local clerk’s office, where a ballot can be requested, filled out, and submitted.
Through Oct. 19, Michiganders with a state driver’s license or state ID card can register to vote online at Michigan.gov/ Vote. Between Oct. 20 and 8 p.m. on Election Day, residents with or without a Michigan ID, including students with a campus address, must register to vote in-person at their local clerk’s office by bringing a digital or paper document that proves residency, including name and address.
Acceptable documents include:
• Michigandriver’s license
• Current utility bill
• Bank statement
• Paycheck or government check
• Other government document
A Court of Claims judge recently ruled thatMichigan clerks must accept late ballots so long as they are postmarked no later than Nov. 2 and received before the deadline for certifying election results, or 14 days after the election.
Republicans are trying to overturn that court of claims decision, including former Secretary of StateRuth Johnson, a state senator and chair of the Senate Elections Committee, whoargue thatMichigan’s current policy risks placing “the resolution of the contest past dates Congress has set for” the so-called safeharbor deadline for settling disputes of Dec. 8 and the Dec. 14ElectoralCollegevote.
If the preliminary injunction withstands the Republican challenge, it would only apply to the Nov. 3 election.
The Legislature recently approved a major piece of legislation to help support clerks amid the surge in absentee ballots.
SenateBill 757, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer soon, will give local clerk’s in cities or townshipswithat least 25,000 residents an additional day to begin the preprocessing absentee ballots. The bill sunsets after theNov. 3 election.
The bill also requires clerks to contact voters if a signature on an absentee ballot doesn’t match the one registered with the state and allows clerks to have absentee counting boardmembers work in shifts, as long as no one leaves the board location until after the polls have closed.
Tiffany Brown, Whitmer’s press secretary, said the governor does not plan on taking executive action to further support clerks before the November election, but rather continue to work with the Legislature in getting election reforms crafted and approved.
“The governor and the legislature worked together to pass common sense reform to make it easier to process the results of the upcoming election in the face of enormous challenges,” she said. “Our reforms need to go further, but I look forward to working with the legislature in the future to strengthen our system.”