Michigan residents have until Tuesday, Oct. 9 to register to be eligible to vote in the Nov. 6 general election.
“If you would like to vote in the upcoming presidential election, you only have a few more days to register,” Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, Michigan’s chief election officer, said in a press release. “Once you have registered, you have the means to express your voice through one of our greatest Constitutional rights and fundamental freedoms – the right to vote.”
To register to vote, applicants must be at least 18 years old by Election Day and be U.S. citizens. Applicants must also be residents of Michigan and of the city or township in which they wish to register.
Voters may register in person at any Secretary of State office or by mail. The mail-in registration form is available at www.michigan.gov/elections.
Voters who qualify may choose to cast an absentee ballot. According to the Secretary of State’s website, you may obtain an absentee ballot if you are:
•Age 60 or older
•Physically unable to attend the polls without the assistance of another
•Expecting to be absent from the community in which you are registered for the entire time the polls will be open on Election Day
•In jail awaiting arraignment or trial
•Unable to attend the polls due to religious reasons
•Appointed to work as an election inspector in a precinct outside of your precinct of residence
Those who wish to submit an absentee ballot must submit their application by 2 p.m. Nov. 3. Once you receive the absentee ballot you must return it to your local clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Voters will be asked for valid photo identification at the polls on Election Day. Voters who don’t have a Michigan driver’s license or identification card can show the following forms of photo ID, as long as they are current.
•Driver’s license or personal identification card issued by another state
•Federal or state government-issued photo identification
•U.S. passport
•Military identification card with photo
•Student identification with photo from a high school or an
accredited institution of higher education, such as a college or university
•Tribal identification card with photo
According to a press release from the Secretary of State’s office,
“Anyone who does not have an acceptable form of photo ID or failed to bring it with them to the polls can still vote. They will be required to sign a brief affidavit stating that they’re not in possession of photo ID. Their ballots will be included with all others and counted on Election Day.”
The polls will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
