Sec. 761.
(1) If the clerk of a city, township, or village receives an application for an absent voter ballot from a person registered to vote in that city, township, or village and if the signature on the application agrees with the signature for the person contained in the qualified voter file or on the registration card as required in subsection (2), the clerk immediately upon receipt of the application or, if the application is received before the printing of the absent voter ballots, as soon as the ballots are received by the clerk, shall forward by mail, postage prepaid, or shall deliver personally 1 of the ballots or set of ballots if there is more than 1 kind of ballot to be voted to the applicant. Subject to the identification requirement in subsection (6), absent voter ballots may be delivered to an applicant in person at the office of the clerk.
(2) The qualified voter file shall be used to determine the genuineness of a signature on an application for an absent voter ballot. Signature comparisons shall be made with the digitized signature in the qualified voter file. If the qualified voter file does not contain a digitized signature of an elector, or is not accessible to the clerk, the city or township clerk shall compare the signature appearing on the application for an absent voter ballot to the signature contained on the master card.
(3) Notwithstanding section 759, providing that no absent voter applications shall be received by the clerk after 2 p.m. on the Saturday before the election, and subject to the identification requirement in subsection (6), a person qualified to vote as an absent voter may apply in person at the clerk's office before 4 p.m. on a day before the election except Sunday or a legal holiday to vote as an absent voter. The applicant shall receive his or her absent voter ballot and vote the ballot in the clerk's office. All other absent voter ballots, except ballots delivered pursuant to an emergency absent voter ballot application under section 759b, shall be mailed or delivered to the registration address of the applicant unless the application requests delivery to an address outside the city, village, or township or to a hospital or similar institution, in which case the absent voter ballots shall be mailed or delivered to the address given in the application. However, a clerk may mail or deliver an absent voter ballot, upon request of the absent voter, to a post office box if the post office box is where the absent voter normally receives personal mail and the absent voter does not receive mail at his or her registration address.
(4) Absent voter ballots shall be issued in the same order in which applications are received by the clerk of a city, township, or village, as nearly as may be, and each ballot issued shall bear the lowest number of each kind available for this purpose. However, this provision does not prohibit a clerk from immediately issuing an absent voter ballot to an absent voter who applies in person in the clerk's office for absent voter ballots. The clerk shall enclose with the ballot or ballots a return envelope properly addressed to the clerk and bearing upon the back of the envelope a printed statement in substantially the following form:
| TO BE COMPLETED |
| BY THE CLERK |
| ______________________________ ____________________________ |
| Name of Voter Street Address or R.R. |
| ______________________________ ____________________________ |
| City, Township or Village County |
| Ward ________ Precinct _______ Date of Election _____________ |
| ================================================================= |
| TO BE COMPLETED BY THE ABSENT VOTER |
I assert that I am a United States citizen and a qualified and registered elector of the city, township, or village named above. I am voting as an absent voter in conformity with state election law. Unless otherwise indicated below, I personally marked the ballot enclosed in this envelope without exhibiting it to any other person.
I further assert that this absent voter ballot is being returned to the clerk or an assistant of the clerk by me personally; by public postal service, express mail service, parcel post service, or other common carrier; by a member of my immediate family; or by a person residing in my household.
| DATE: ______________ SIGN HERE: X_________________________ |
| Signature of Absent Voter |
| The above form must be signed or your vote will not be counted. |
| AN ABSENT VOTER WHO KNOWINGLY MAKES A FALSE STATEMENT IS GUILTY |
| OF A MISDEMEANOR. |
| ================================================================= |
| TO BE COMPLETED ONLY IF VOTER IS ASSISTED IN VOTING |
| BY ANOTHER PERSON |
I assisted the above named absent voter who is disabled or otherwise unable to mark the ballot in marking his or her absent voter ballot pursuant to his or her directions. The absent voter ballot was inserted in the return envelope without being exhibited to any other person.
| _______________________ __________________ ___________________ |
| Signature of Person Street Address City, Twp., or |
| Assisting Voter or R.R. Village |
| _________________________________________________________________ |
| Printed Name of Person Assisting Voter |
| A PERSON WHO ASSISTS AN ABSENT VOTER AND WHO KNOWINGLY MAKES A |
| FALSE STATEMENT IS GUILTY OF A FELONY. |
| ================================================================= |
| WARNING |
PERSONS WHO CAN LEGALLY BE IN POSSESSION OF AN ABSENT VOTER BALLOT ISSUED TO AN ABSENT VOTER ARE LIMITED TO THE ABSENT VOTER; A PERSON WHO IS A MEMBER OF THE ABSENT VOTER'S IMMEDIATE FAMILY OR RESIDES IN THE ABSENT VOTER'S HOUSEHOLD AND WHO HAS BEEN ASKED BY THE ABSENT VOTER TO RETURN THE BALLOT; A PERSON WHOSE JOB IT IS TO HANDLE MAIL BEFORE, DURING, OR AFTER BEING TRANSPORTED BY A PUBLIC POSTAL SERVICE, EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE, PARCEL POST SERVICE, OR COMMON CARRIER, BUT ONLY DURING THE NORMAL COURSE OF HIS OR HER EMPLOYMENT; AND THE CLERK, ASSISTANTS OF THE CLERK, AND OTHER AUTHORIZED ELECTION OFFICIALS OF THE CITY, TOWNSHIP, VILLAGE, OR SCHOOL DISTRICT. ANY OTHER PERSON IN POSSESSION OF AN ABSENT VOTER BALLOT IS GUILTY OF A FELONY.
(5) An absent voter who knowingly makes a false statement on the absent voter ballot return envelope is guilty of a misdemeanor. A person who assists an absent voter and who knowingly makes a false statement on the absent voter ballot return envelope is guilty of a felony.
(6) If an elector obtains his or her absent voter ballot in person from the clerk of the city, township, or village in which he or she is registered, the clerk of the city, township, or village shall not provide an absent voter ballot to that elector until the elector identifies himself or herself to the clerk by presenting an official state identification card issued to that elector under 1972 PA 222, MCL 28.291 to 28.300, an operator's or chauffeur's license issued to that elector under the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.1 to 257.923, or other generally recognized picture identification card. If an elector does not have an official state identification card, operator's or chauffeur's license, or other generally recognized picture identification card, the elector may sign an affidavit to that effect before the clerk of the city, township, or village and be allowed to obtain his or her absent voter ballot in person from the clerk. The clerk of the city, village, or township shall indicate to each elector who obtains his or her absent voter ballot in person from the clerk that the elector may sign an affidavit indicating that the elector does not have an official state identification card, operator's or chauffeur's license, or other generally recognized picture identification card in order to obtain his or her absent voter ballot in person from the clerk. However, if an elector obtains his or her absent voter ballot in person from the clerk and votes by absent voter ballot without providing the identification required under this subsection, the absent voter ballot of that elector shall be prepared as a challenged ballot as provided in section 727 and shall be counted as any other ballot is counted unless determined otherwise by a court of law under section 747 or 748 or any other applicable law.
History: 1954, Act 116, Eff. June 1, 1955 ;-- Am. 1955, Act 271, Imd. Eff. June 30, 1955 ;-- Am. 1958, Act 192, Eff. Sept. 13, 1958 ;-- Am. 1965, Act 152, Imd. Eff. July 12, 1965 ;-- Am. 1966, Act 264, Imd. Eff. July 12, 1966 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 140, Imd. Eff. May 29, 1980 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 261, Eff. Mar. 28, 1996 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 207, Imd. Eff. May 21, 1996 ;-- Am. 2005, Act 71, Imd. Eff. July 14, 2005 ;-- Am. 2012, Act 523, Eff. Mar. 28, 2013
Last modified: October 10, 2016