Voter guide 2026: Frequently asked questions about voting

Unfortunately, there are bad actors out there who like to take advantage of election time to spread disinformation (information that is untrue) and misinformation (information that is untrue and deliberately harmful).

This can apply to the candidates themselves, campaigners at and off polling sites, ads, robocalls and more.

Michigan officials are aiming to deter “deep fakes” in political campaigning as artificial intelligence becomes more convincing. 

Laws require disclaimers on any campaign ads or political content that were digitally altered using AI. Failure to do so could lead to stiff criminal penalties. Supporters of the changes feared if left unchecked, such content could be used to spread false information in a way that influences election results. 

If you get a robocall, receive literature at your house or hear a political ad and you are unsure if it is accurate information about candidates or issues, there are several reputable sources you can turn to.

BridgeDetroit (bridgedetroit.com), our sister publication Bridge Michigan (bridgemi.com) and the local chapter of Votebeat (votebeat.org/michigan) strive to provide nonpartisan information. You can also visit Ballotpedia (ballotpedia.org/Michigan) for candidate information and voting records. The League of Women Voters of Michigan (lwvdetroit.org) is also a reputable source for nonpartisan election information. Detroit Votes (detroitvotes.org) has updated information on voting and important links.

The general rule to take: If something sounds too good to be true or uses “absolute” language like “never,” “always,” etc, it’s worth fact-checking. Issues are rarely so black and white.  

If you encounter what you believe to be misinformation, you can report it to the state by emailing misinformation@michigan.gov. Read more about how to be an informed voter and detect misinformation.

Voters with a disability who require assistance in completing their absentee ballot application may receive assistance from another person, provided that the person assisting the voter is not the voter’s employer, agent of that employer or an officer or agent of a union to which the voter belongs. The individual who provided the assistance must input their information in the provided space on the absentee ballot application.

Voters with disabilities can also request an accessible absentee ballot by submitting an accessible absentee ballot application online at Michigan.gov/Vote. When requesting an accessible absentee ballot, the voter will be emailed an electronic ballot and can mark the ballot on an electronic device, using their own assistive technology, and print and mail or otherwise return the ballot to their local clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Voters can also download an accessible application to vote absentee and submit it to their local clerk’s office by mail, email, or in person. Or they may visit their local clerk’s office to request an absentee ballot in person.

• Locate your local clerk’s office
• Accessible absentee ballot application
• Learn more about accessible voting in Michigan

• Language access: Michigan residents have the right to bring a non-English interpreter with them to the polls for assistance in casting a ballot. Your interpreter cannot influence your vote, cannot be your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your labor union.
• No photo identification requirement: If you do not have picture ID with you, you can still cast a ballot.
• No-reason absentee voting: Every registered voter in Michigan has the right to use an absent voter ballot to vote from home, vote early, or vote by mail.
• Same-day voter registration: Eligible Michigan residents can register to vote on Election Day by visiting a designated local clerk’s office and providing proof of residency.
• Returning citizens: Michigan residents who are not currently serving a sentence in jail or prison have the right to register to vote and cast a ballot.
• Voter accessibility: Michigan voters have the right to accessible polling places and to utilize Voter Assist Terminals (VATs) for assistance casting a ballot. VATs are ballot marking devices with special accommodations for hearing, visual, physical, and other disabilities. Voters have the right to vote independently and privately without assistance using a VAT, and on-site election inspectors (poll workers) are available to assist or provide instruction upon request.

If you experience any issues casting your ballot on or before Election Day, contact the Election Protection Hotline for assistance:

• English: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) 
• Spanish: 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682) 
• Arabic: 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287) 
• Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese: 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683) 

Absentee voters can change their vote ahead of Election Day by spoiling their original ballot. To do so, voters must submit a written request to their local clerk by 5 p.m. the Friday before the election and clarify whether they’d like to pick up their new ballot in person or have it mailed. 

Don’t wait too long — an absentee ballot cannot be spoiled on Election Day if it’s already been received by the clerk. 

To check your ballot’s status or learn more about the voting process, visit Michigan Voter Information Center online.For information about write-in candidates, check out this manual.

Yes. If you move within the same city, you need to update your registration with the municipal clerk. To do so online, complete this form.

Double voting is illegal, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine of up to $2,000. It’s a felony under federal law too, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

In Michigan, voters can vote in person or via absentee ballot, and state officials say there are safeguards to ensure residents don’t vote twice.

Even so, St. Clair Shores residents and voting officials were charged with crimes in 2024 after four voted both absentee and in-person. One man was sentenced to probation, while charges against the others were dismissed.

Michigan says it prevents double voting by giving workers at each site access to the Qualified Voter File, a database that tracks when a ballot is submitted. If a voter who has already cast an absentee ballot tries to vote a second time, the Qualified Voter File would show that, and the voter would not be issued a second ballot, according to the Secretary of State. 

In the event a voter managed to get a second ballot because their absentee ballot was mailed but not yet received, for instance, the state says the entry for the first ballot would be “flagged” in the Qualified Voter File, “and the clerk would invalidate the first ballot.” After the first ballot is invalidated, the clerk would issue a new ballot.

Michigan law requires election clerks to make their “best effort” to remove and reject absentee ballots cast by voters who subsequently die before Election Day. That happened 3,469 times across the state in the 2020 presidential election. 

Between 8,000 and 9,000 Michigan residents die in a typical month, but not all of them are voting age or are registered to participate in elections. 

States vary on whether they count early ballots that are cast by voters who end up dying before Election Day. Ten states explicitly permit counting absentee ballots that were cast before a voter dies, but nine other states strictly prohibit it, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Attempted voting by noncitizens is illegal and rare, but not unheard of: In 2024, a Michigan review found 15 noncitizens attempted to vote in an election that drew 5.7 million voters. 

While US citizens who apply for a Michigan driver’s license are automatically registered to vote, multiple safeguards are supposed to prevent noncitizens from registering after they get a driver license.

Under current Michigan law, a person must provide documents showing their citizenship status – such as their birth certificate, social security number or passport – in order to obtain their license or state ID. 

The Secretary of State’s computerized license application system only allows U.S. citizens to become registered voters.

The system prevents voter registration for people providing noncitizen documents. Employees cannot manually override the system and must complete checks to ensure noncitizens have not been accidentally registered to vote.

Automatic voter registration was written into the Michigan Constitution as part of the 2018 “Promote the Vote” ballot proposal and expanded by lawmakers late last year. A report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Election Lab shows similar laws exist in nearly half the states.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, automatic voter registration laws remove barriers to voter registration and improve election accuracy. Opponents say voters are provided insufficient notice of how they can opt out. To further safeguard against noncitizen voter registration, the Michigan Legislature recently approved an amendment to send registered voters a mail notice in 2025 that explains voter eligibility requirements and cautions that individuals must decline voter registration if they are not eligible to vote.

Rules for absentee drop boxes — where voters can return absentee ballots rather than mailing them — are governed by state law, so cities cannot simply make their own rules. 

Under current state law, every municipality must have at least one absentee ballot drop box, and larger municipalities must have one for every 15,000 registered voters.

Drop boxes must be accessible 24 hours a day, every day, for the 40 days before Election Day. They must also be accessible until 8 p.m. on Election Day. For a list of all absentee ballot drop boxes in Michigan, click here.

Michigan law holds that only members of your immediate family — in-laws, grandparents, grandchildren or an individual residing in your household — may return a ballot on your behalf. Handling a ballot for a non-relative is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, a maximum $2,000 fine, or both.

Municipalities must have video monitoring on their drop boxes within 75 days of an election under a bipartisan law passed in 2020.

Michigan law requires all ballot drop boxes to be “securely locked” and affixed to the ground or another stationary object. They must be designed to stop someone from removing any absentee ballots or applications, when locked.

Only a city or township’s clerk, deputy clerk “or a sworn member of the clerk’s staff” can collect absentee ballots or applications from drop boxes under state law.

Except for absent voter ballot drop boxes located at a city or township clerk’s office or in an official satellite office, clerks must document each time absent voter ballot applications and absent voter ballot return envelopes are collected from an absent voter ballot drop box in that city or township. Clerks keep that information, which includes collection dates and drop box locations, for at least 22 months following the election.

If you are in jail or prison awaiting trial, you are eligible to vote by absentee ballot. Anyone serving a sentence in jail or prison after conviction cannot vote while incarcerated.

There is no state law requiring jails to facilitate voting, so access varies by facility. Advocates report limited access to absentee ballots and little voter registration support.

In Wayne County, there is a concentrated effort to help facilitate the vote: In 2022, some 500 people in jail voted, according to one estimate.

The Secretary of State warns that “if you wear a button or shirt bearing election related images or slogans, you will be asked to cover or remove it. You may carry literature for personal use only. You may not distribute it, display it or leave it at the polling place.”

Fraud exists, but multiple studies have found that it is exceedingly rare and does not occur enough to change results of elections.

Despite claims to the contrary, multiple studies — including those by conservative groups — have found few instances of fraud.

The right-leaning Heritage Foundation documented less than 20 cases of fraud in Michigan from 2007 to 2023, all of which resulted in criminal charges. The group points out that this is a sample and “demonstrates vulnerabilities in the election process.” 

A Republican-led investigation into Michigan’s 2020 presidential election confirmed the results, despite widespread Republican claims of vote rigging. The Associated Press reviewed every potential case of fraud in six states disputed by Donald Trump in the 2020 election and found fewer than 475 suspicious votes. The margin of victory in those states was more than 300,000 total votes.

Read more: What happens to ballots in Michigan after they are cast

Michigan requires testing of election equipment to ensure it’s reliable — and does so publicly. Likewise, voting machines must meet federal standards to minimize errors and produce a paper record for recounts and audits. 

Michigan also performs post-election audits of results, including a procedural audit “of the results in at least one race in each precinct randomly selected for audit and at least one statewide race or ballot question for statewide elections,” according to the group Verified Voting.To read more, check out this primer from the Bipartisan Policy Center.

• For state campaigns: Try searching a campaign finance database by the Secretary of State
• For state financial disclosures, try Michigan’s search portal
• Federal campaign finance: click here
• Personal finance disclosures for US Senate candidates here 

Personal finance disclosures for US House candidates here

The voting age is still 18, but 16- and 17-year-olds in Michigan will be able to pre-register to vote so they are automatically registered upon turning 18. The option is available until a teen is less than six months from turning 18, at which point they’d have to wait to register until their birthday. 

New laws governing election certification align Michigan with the federal Electoral Count Reform Act. Among other things, the federal law makes clear that the vice president has a “ministerial” duty to count electoral votes that states send to Congress. The new Michigan law similarly states that partisan election canvassers at both the county and state levels have a “ministerial, clerical, and nondiscretionary duty” to certify results based on results compiled by local clerks.

The Michigan measure also speeds up the timeline for completing the post-election canvass and clarifies that only the governor can submit a list of presidential electors to Congress. It also changes the nominating process for the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers. 

Detroit has 500 voting precincts and 134 absentee counting boards. During an election, each of these precincts and boards requires a staff of paid precinct inspectors to assist voters as they arrive at the polls on Election Day.

Registered voters interested in serving as precinct inspectors must submit an election inspector application and take a brief test at the Detroit Department of Elections. In addition to your name, address and date of birth, applicants must include their political party preference and qualifications to fill the position such as education or experience.

A precinct inspector who is 18 years of age or older must be a registered voter of the State. They cannot be a challenger, candidate, member of a candidate’s immediate family, or a member of the local Board of Canvassers. Anyone convicted of a felony or an election crime may not serve.

Citizens who are 16 and 17 may also apply and work as a precinct inspector.

Go to the Department of Elections and complete the Election Inspector Application

Each training session will last approximately two and a half hours.

You do not have to be a resident of Detroit. If you are 18 years of age or older, you must be registered to vote in Michigan; 16- or 17-year-olds may also work as poll workers.

You will be assigned to one of the polling precincts located throughout the City of Detroit. The goal is to assign you to the polling precinct closest to your home.

You will be paid based on classification. All poll workers’ checks are mailed within three to six weeks after each election. 

A 2023 law made it a crime to intimidate or otherwise threaten election workers in an attempt to stop them from performing their duties. Penalties would start at 93 days in jail and up to a $500 fine for a first offense. 

Other legislation signed in recent years created an option for prospective election workers to apply online. 

Another recent law repeals a ban on hired transportation to voting booths, an 1895 law believed to have been the only one of its kind left in the country. 

Ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft had cited the law for not offering discounted rides to polls, as the companies do in other states, and the ban had long been the subject of legal disputes.

Check the news and social media closer to Election Day to see if any organizations, churches or nonprofits are offering free rides. 

Go to https://www.michigan.gov/sos/language-services

No-reason absentee voting, approved by voters in 2018, has become a popular option for casting ballots in Michigan.

Voters can sign up for email or text alerts to track the status of their ballots once they’re submitted. In Detroit, you can go to detroitav.ballottrax.net/voter.

The more stringent tracking system also requires election officials to notify voters if their absentee application or ballot was rejected, along with the reason for doing so and how to resolve any issues. 

From a procedural standpoint, cities and townships of any size are now allowed to process and tabulate absentee ballots between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the Monday before Election Day, or on any of the eight days prior to Election Day if the municipality has over 5,000 residents. 

However, they cannot report any results until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.  

Once voters return their absentee ballots by mail, drop them off at a designated ballot drop box or deliver them to their local clerk in person, election officials scan the ballot envelope into the computer system and verify that the signature on the ballot envelope correlates with the signature on file. 

If a voter forgets to sign the envelope or the signature is significantly different than the one on file — or if someone else signed the envelope — the clerk’s office is supposed to notify the voter of the discrepancy and ask them to correct it. 

Ballots are then sorted by voters’ ward and precinct and cross-checked to ensure the number of ballots matches what’s recorded on the computer. The ballots are then stored in bins by ward and precinct and remain in storage until they can be processed or counted unless there’s a change in a voter’s status or a voter asks to spoil their ballot ahead of Election Day. 

Cities and townships of any size are now allowed to process and tabulate absentee ballots between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on the Monday before Election Day, or on any of the eight days prior to Election Day if the municipality has over 5,000 residents. However, they cannot report any results until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. 

Instead of submitting a new absentee ballot application for every election cycle, voters can opt to vote by mail in every election with a single application.

Registered voters who choose this option will get absentee ballots for all future elections unless they rescind their application, move without updating their registration address or don’t vote for six consecutive years. 

Voters can apply online and opt into the permanent program through the Secretary of State or by contacting their local clerk’s office. 

Don’t worry about finding a stamp, either — the changes also require election officials to provide pre-paid postage for absentee ballot-related mail. 

Absentee ballots cast by military or overseas voters will be given more time to count, even if they arrive after Election Day.

Typically, the deadline for voting is 8 p.m. on the day of an election. But under a 2024 election law, if an out-of-country or military vote was postmarked on or before Election Day, and received by a clerk within six days of the election, the ballot would be added to the final count. 

In June this year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed four bills into law that would delay the start of some local officials’ terms. The laws are designed to ensure that people don’t take office until every vote is counted in their elections.

In many communities, local officials previously took office almost immediately after Election Day, meaning ballots counted later might not be considered at all. That functionally disenfranchised military voters or those voting from overseas, whose ballots can be counted as long as they arrive within six days of an election.

In November 2024, for instance, 1,440 ballots were returned in that six-day window — 303 from military voters and 1,137 from civilians overseas.

Under the new laws, elected officers for cities, townships, and villages — supervisors, trustees, clerks, and so on — won’t be able to start their job any sooner than noon on the first day of the month following their election, which for many positions means Dec. 1. And no one will be able to start until the election is certified by the appropriate canvassers.