With straight-party voting no longer possible in Michigan, Livingston County Democrats are calling on local clerks to do more to promote absentee voting.
Howell Township has already approved sending letters to registered voters encouraging them to apply to the permanent absent voters list, whose members are automatically sent absentee ballot applications each election season. The township authorized spending $350 on the letters, Trustee Michael Tipton said….
To cast an absentee ballot in Michigan, voters must attest that they are:
- Age 60 or older.
- Unable to vote without assistance.
- Expecting to be out of town on Election Day
- In jail awaiting arraignment or trial.
- Unable travel to the polls for religious reasons.
- An appointed election inspector who will be working outside his or her home voting precinct on Election Day.
As such, Michigan is among 13 states that does not allow early voting — also known as excuse-free absentee voting. Thirty-four states and Washington, D.C., allow for early voting. Three other states — Colorado, Oregon and Washington — conduct voting by mail, eliminating he need for absentee voting altogether. Michigan is the only one of the seven Great Lakes states not to allow early voting, according to the website Ballotpedia. Read more at Livingston Daily Press & Argus.