Updates About Elections

Michigan’s November 8 General Election is quickly approaching, and the Secretary of State is urging the approximately one million voters that requested absentee ballots, but have not yet voted, to hand-deliver their ballots to the clerk’s office or ballot box to avoid postal delays. Ballots must be received by the clerk no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day. Clerk’s offices and ballot box locations can be found here.

Residents not yet registered to vote can do so in person at a clerk’s office, since online and mail registration has closed. Michiganders also have the ability to register to vote at the time of voting on November 8.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Election Day, and voters who are in line by 8 p.m. but have not yet cast their ballot are encouraged to wait. If you are interested in working on election day as a poll worker, voters are encouraged to apply here.

On September 28, one of the final session days ahead of the November 8 election, the Michigan State Legislature finalized a $1 billion supplemental appropriation bill, most of which would additional funding to the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund for various economic development projects.

In light of the negotiations, Representative Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) announced during the House Appropriations committee meeting that he would be resigning as chair due to his concerns with approving additional spending. Albert, who again addressed the chamber during his no-vote explanation, said he could not support the spending during a “period of economic uncertainty”. Representative Mary Whiteford (R-Casco Township) will serve as the Appropriations Chair for the remainder of the 2021-22 legislative session.

Following an agreement struck between the Whitmer administration, local clerks and lawmakers, the Michigan State Legislature also took up a package of bills related to election security and preprocessing of absentee ballots. All bills in the package passed out of both chambers and now head to the desk of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. House Bill 4491 would allow county clerks to remove deceased individuals from the qualified voter file as well as allow absentee ballot preprocessing up to two days before the election. Currently, Michigan only allows preprocessing 24 hours prior to an election and only in municipalities of at least 1,500 voters. House Bill 6071 would increase access to polling locations. Senate Bill 8 defines “verified electronic signature” for military personnel, while SB 311 allows the electronic return of ballots for military voters.

The legislation is expected to be signed into law and be in effect for the upcoming November general election.

As previously reported in Updates from the Capitol, Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a petition for a special prosecutor with the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council (PACC) to investigate alleged statewide election fraud. On September 8, Muskegon County Prosecutor D.J. Hilson was assigned to review the investigation.

Nessel submitted the petition to the PACC asking for a special prosecutor to investigate fraudulent activity surrounding unauthorized access to voting machines following the 2020 general election. Notable targets of the investigation include state Representative Daire Rendon (R-Lake City), Attorney General candidate Matthew DePerno, and Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf.

Under current law, if conflict exists within the Office of the Attorney General, a petition must be filed with the PACC to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the case. The PACC will review the materials and identify proper placement of the investigation.