Options gallore for Michigan Voters
MFE Note: The early patriots fought a true battle to earn the right to vote. Citizens of the United States are able to vote in federal elections in many ways. Patriots today vote to keep the freedoms fought for by those early patriots. Three ways to vote are through early voting, absentee voting, or voting on Election Day. We hold onto the precious nugget of patriotism by voting, whether by early voting, absentee ballot voting, or in person.
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Article by Jeff Schaeper | July 17, 2024
Have you ever gone into vote your ballot and realized that there were a lot of people you had never heard of, perhaps a lot of offices you didn’t even know about?
Have you ever learned that there was an election that you missed, most likely a school board or other local election, but one in which you would have wanted to vote?
Have you ever stood in line only to be told that there was an equipment failure and you would have to go someplace else to vote?
Have you ever awakened on election day to see snow or rain or something that made you not want to go to the polls? Or was one of your children sick and you had to remain at home instead of voting?
Have you been in a traffic jam unable to get to the voting polls on time?
The 2020 general election was a very close election, decided by 11,000 votes in Georgia and 10,000 votes in Arizona. In Arizona, an entire precinct closed down due to voting machine failure and the voters were directed to another voting center. In other states, early snowfall was expected, off-putting to some voters.
There are answers to these concerns.
No longer is there an election day; there is an election season. You have many opportunities to cast your precious ballot.
No longer do you have to continually request an absentee ballot. You can request to be on a permanent list to receive absentee ballots.
Why is having an election season favorable to voters? Why is being on a permanent absentee ballot list favorable? How do these help ensure free, fair, and transparent elections?
Michigan’s new election laws can address some of these concerns:
Permanent absentee ballot list
If you are on the permanent absentee ballot list, you are automatically sent a ballot for each election. This is most advantageous in a year such as 2024, where in many jurisdictions there are 4 elections (presidential primary, school board, state and local primary, general election). Rather than be concerned about when/where to vote, the ballot you receive in the mail ensures that you will not miss the opportunity to partake of your patriotic privilege and duty and cast that ballot!
Additionally, receiving your ballot early gives you the opportunity to learn more about candidates. With the ballot before you in your home for 40 days before an election, you have time to do your homework, to educate yourself about issues facing your community, about individuals who are running for the respective offices.
The potential downside to voting absentee is that you are trusting the United States Postal Service to deliver your ballot to the clerk on time. However, from the time the clerk sends you your absentee ballot, until the time it is received, you are able to check the your ballot status by going to this website: How do you get & cast a ballot? - MI Elections (electionfactsmi.com) There, you can check that it was received by the clerk and that it was then placed into the voting machine.
What if after completing your absentee ballot and returning it you decide you want to change it? Under Michigan law, there is even a provision for this. Absentee voting (michigan.gov)
When you complete your ballot, make sure that you mark each oval completely. If some of the marks on an absentee ballot are uncertain, the election workers will physically look at your ballot and try to decipher what your intended vote was. That might be the biggest detriment to voting via absentee ballot, but the chance of this happening is so small that the benefits of voting absentee far outweigh it, wouldn’t you agree, voter?
While rare, perhaps, it does occur that absentee ballots have been “lost.” If you want to make sure that your ballot is COUNTED, take your absentee ballot to your voting precinct on election day or to an early voting center and feed it into the machine yourself.
Early Voting
Under Michigan’s new election laws you have the opportunity to vote for a minimum of nine consecutive days prior to election day. Some communities provide more days.
Voting is at an early voting site, not at your normal precinct. There, a ballot might be printed for you while you wait; it depends on your jurisdiction. At the early voting site you walk in, present your identification card (or sign an affidavit), sign your name, and receive a ballot.
Early voting sites are open for at least eight hours each day during the early voting period. Early voting site locations, dates, and hours are available 60 days prior to Election Day at Michigan.gov/Vote.
Early voting gives you the opportunity to decide which day is more convenient for you to vote; you can schedule voting around work schedules, out-of-town trips, even children’s school and sports events. Malfunctioning equipment and weather do not cause as much of a concern.
And, if there is a problem with your ballot (perhaps if you double-voted for one office), you can correct it yourself when the tabulator spits it back out!
Election Day voting
Your traditional precinct is where election day voting occurs as it has previously. That has not changed under new Michigan election laws.
One of the biggest benefits to voting early in-person or via absentee ballot is that it helps the Get-Out-the-Vote effort. Many of you receive phone calls reminding you to vote; these calls stop once you cast your ballot. It saves you the hassle of receiving calls that you perhaps do not want to receive; it helps candidates remind those people who have not yet vote.
Michigan Fair Elections continues to educate readers about election laws, about issues that affect elections, about how to work to ensure fair, honest, and transparent voting.
August Primary Timeline:
Jeff Schaeper is a member of MFE’s Communication Team, and has years of internal control and strategic planning in the auto industry. He is now retired and has turned his energy and passion to have free and fair elections.
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The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Michigan Fair Elections. Every article written by an MFE author is generated by the author or editor alone. Links embedded within the article, however, may have been generated by artificial intelligence.
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