By Patrice Johnson | October 16, 2024
Absentee ballots for overseas voters in Michigan were sent out on September 21, 2024, giving overseas citizens and military service members 45 days to return their ballots for the November 5 federal election. This timeline adheres to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA). However, Michigan legislators decided that 45 days was insufficient and passed a law allowing overseas absentee ballots to be received and counted up to six days after Election Day.
On October 10, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a memo extending the absentee ballot deadline further due to the Veteran's Day holiday on November 11. According to this ruling, ballots arriving as late as November 12 can still be counted.
The instructions emphasize that, under the law, local clerks must consider overseas ballots with a postmark dated on or before Election Day. However, ambiguity surrounds ballots without a clear postmark, or missing one altogether. In these cases, county clerks must assess whether the ballots arrived within the accepted timeframe.
From Michigan Election Law Summary and FAQs:
If a city or township clerk receives an absentee overseas voter ballot within six days after the election, and the ballot return envelope for an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter is postmarked on or before election day, the clerk must consider the ballot as timely received and count and tabulate the ballot. If an absent overseas voter return envelope has missing or unclear postmarks, local clerks are to send the return envelopes to the appropriate county clerk, who must determine if those ballots are timely received and, if they are, count and tabulate the ballot accordingly. (MCL 168.759a and MCL 168.764a) [Emphasis added.]
Excerpt from A.G. Nessel's memo:
Source: AG Nessel Memo: https://www.michigan.gov/ag/-/media/Project/Websites/AG/releases/2024/October/Benson-AV-Ballot-Final-signed.pdf?rev=940480b23b6f411bad45fac0dbf38c03&hash=486F9522EA112FBA56E60DEA54B8259A
Security Concerns and Risks of Delay
Critics of this extended deadline raise concerns about ballot security and the potential for abuse. Allowing ballots to arrive a week late, some argue, creates a risk of manufactured or tampered ballots being inserted into the voting stream.
Michigan law stipulates that electronically received ballots cannot be counted. For added security, the serial number of each ballot must match both the number transmitted to the voter and the one received by the clerk.
It is against the law to accept ballots that were electronically received. Emailed ballots ARE NOT eligible for counting.
Key Dates and Timetables
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