June 26, 2020 – The Midland City Clerk’s Office will begin mailing absentee ballots for the August 4, 2020 State Primary Election this week to absentee voters who have returned their applications to vote by absentee ballot. The Clerk’s Office has had an influx of thousands of ballot requests in last few weeks. Ballots have now been delivered and processing has begun, but will take time to be completed.
Absentee ballot applications will be processed in the order they were received and by precinct. To track if an application has been received, a ballot has been mailed, or if a ballot has been delivered back to the Clerk’s Office, visit the Michigan Voter Information Website (MVIC) found at https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/.
Absentee ballots will arrive by mail in a white envelope with a blue stripe on the left side labeled “Official Absent Voter Ballot”. The envelope will contain the ballot and another white envelope with a green stripe on the left side which should be signed and used to return the completed ballot back to the City Clerk’s Office.
Voters may obtain an absentee ballot by submitting an application by mail to the Midland City Clerk’s Office, 333 W. Ellsworth Street, Midland, MI 48640; by fax to 989-835-2717; or via email to clerk@midland-mi.org. A request for absentee ballot form can be found at www.cityofmidlandmi.gov/absentee.
As Midland City Hall remains closed to the public through Monday, July 6 in accordance with current COVID-19 preventative measures, voters cannot pick up or drop off an absentee ballot application or ballot in person. The entire process from application through voted ballot can be completed by mail and voters should continue to utilize this contactless method even when City Hall reopens.
A ballot drop box will be installed at City Hall in the coming weeks for submitting voting materials. Voters should not use the payment drop box inside the doors of City Hall to return absentee ballot applications and ballots as they will not fit and may become damaged and unable to be processed.
Completed absentee ballots must be received by the City Clerk’s Office by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted. The City Clerk’s Office recommends allowing 2 weeks’ mailing time for returning voted ballots by mail. Return postage of 70 cents is required to mail back an absentee ballot.
Following the passage of Proposal 3, all registered Michigan voters are now eligible to vote by absentee ballot for any reason in any election. For questions or more information on how to obtain an absentee ballot, visit www.cityofmidlandmi.gov/clerk or contact the Midland City Clerk’s Office at 989-837-3310 or clerk@midland-mi.org.