A recent mailing from the Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) to absentee ballot holders mistakenly identified the County Clerk as the office to return one’s absentee ballot. THIS IS INCORRECT. Absentee ballots returned to the County Clerk cannot be counted. If you are returning your absentee ballot, deliver it by mail or in person to the City or Township Clerk who issued the ballot by no later than 8:00 p.m. on Election Night.
Fortunately, the return envelopes provided to absentee voters include the proper Clerk and their address.
The mailing looks like this:
Click for a larger version
The email also has a lot of folks worried that their absentee ballot was not received. That is very likely NOT true and there is a way for you to track your ballot to be sure. Here is a press release put out by the office of Washtenaw County Clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum:
The Michigan Democratic Party recently mailed postcards to voters who were issued absentee ballots. The postcard may have given the impression to voters who have already submitted their absentee ballot that it was not received by their City or Township Clerk.
Voters concerned about the status of their absentee ballot can visit www.michigan.gov/vote to track the ballot.
As a reminder, an absentee ballot must be returned to the City or Township Clerk that issued the ballot by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, 2016.
Absentee ballots cannot be submitted to the Washtenaw County Clerk’s Office.
Please note that, according to my sources, this snafu was NOT the responsibility of the MDP itself even though the mailing purports to come from them. It was actually sent out by the national Party, the DNC, without conferring with the MDP. It says, “Paid for by the Michigan Democratic Party” because the use the MDP’s bulk mail permit to send out the cards.
