LANSING, Mich. — Absentee ballots will start being mailed Thursday, The Michigan Department of State said in a news release.
County clerks will start mailing the ballots to those who requested them for the Aug. 4 primary elections.
A 2018 Michigan State Constitution amendment requires absentee ballots to be mailed no later than 40 days before an election.
“No one should be forced to choose between their health and their right to vote, and in Michigan no one has to,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in the release. “We have been hard at work to ensure even in the midst of a pandemic voters have the full range of options for how to cast their ballot, and can be assured no matter how they choose to do so it will be safe and secure.”
According to the release, the Michigan Bureau of Elections will provide jurisdictions with personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies to election workers.
The bureau will also provide supplies to prepare workers to handle an increase in absentee ballots and make social distancing easier at polling locations.
There will be grant funding of a 50 percent match for jurisdictions to get more technology to count absentee ballots faster.
To find out how to volunteer to be an election worker, go to www.michigan.gov/democracymvp.
A judge refused to stop the secretary of state from sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications to millions of Michigan voters, the Associated Press reported June 18.
Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens rejected a request for a preliminary injunction. Stephens said an application can be thrown away if someone doesn’t want to act on it.
The plaintiffs, Yvonne Black and Nevin Cooper-Keel, are Republican candidates for the state House. Cooper-Keel said the applications are a ploy to encourage early voting and rob him of an opportunity to campaign.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson defended the absentee ballot application as a way for people to avoid the risk for the coronavirus at a polling place.
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