Of Michigan’s 1,533 townships and cities, 70 missed the federal and state deadline to mail absentee ballots to military and overseas voters for the August 7 primary. An additional 215 townships and cities did not respond to the Secretary of State’s office when asked if they had mailed their ballots on time.
Per federal law, jurisdictions must send these ballots at least 45 days prior to an election. And while the vast majority of townships met this deadline, the failure to do so by approximately 5 percent of jurisdictions leaves the state open to a federal lawsuit and will likely delay the tabulation of official election results, as clerks’ offices allow more time for these late-delivered military and overseas ballots to be returned.