MICHIGAN, USA — With only two weeks until the Nov. 3 election, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is urging voters to hand-deliver ballots to local clerk’s offices, rather than mail them.
At this time, returning ballots by mail could cause postal delays and result in ballots not being counted; ballots received after 8 p.m. on election day will not be counted in the election.
“Only the absentee ballots received by 8 p.m. on November 3 can be counted, and voters should not risk possible postal delays this close to the deadline,” said Benson. “Voters who already have their absentee ballot should hand-deliver it to their city or township election clerk’s office or ballot drop box. Voters who still plan to request an absentee ballot should visit their clerk’s office to make the request in person and fill out and submit the ballot all in one trip.”
As of Monday, Oct. 19, more than 1.5 million Michiganders had cast their ballots and nearly 3 million had requested them, according to the SOS. Registered voters can request absentee ballots and submit them early at their local clerk’s office through Nov. 2. Eligible citizens can register to vote at their local clerk’s office through Nov. 3 and can vote absentee in the same visit.
“We have worked to ensure every citizen has a right to vote absentee in Michigan and have implemented multiple levels of secure protocols and best practices that have been time-tested over decades in other states,” said Benson. “That’s why we can say with confidence that only valid absentee ballots will be counted, and they will be tabulated by bipartisan pairs of election workers trained to ensure votes are tallied without political bias and in accordance with elections law.”
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