Absentee voting is a great way to vote if you are out of town on Election Day (November 7). However, you should know, that if you registered by mail or through Voice Your Vote, you CANNOT VOTE ABSENTEE IN YOUR FIRST ELECTION. According to Michigan law, you must either register or vote in person when you are voting for the first time.

Now for the logistics of Absentee Voting:

Who can vote absentee?

• Any second-time voter
• Any first-time voter who registered in person (with a clerk or the Secretary of State's office)

What if I didn't register in person, but I need to vote absentee?

• Unfortunately, you cannot vote absentee unless you reigster in person. That is easy to fix, though, by going to your City or County Clerk's office, where they will update your record. Not sure where your Clerk's office is? Check it out HERE!

So now you know that you can vote absentee. But how do you do that?

• First of all, you must request an absentee ballot. You may do that beginning 75 days before the election, which in this case, is August 31st. You must get it in by the Saturday before the election at 2pm. Download your absentee ballot request form HERE!
• Once you have sent in your absentee ballot request form to your city clerk (Find your clerk's address HERE), you will recieve a ballot in the mail. You can then fill it out and return it, and...TA DA! You have voted!