2006 Michigan Compiled Laws - Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.759a Application for absent voter ballot.

Sec. 759a.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (5), each of the following persons who is a qualified elector of a city or township in this state and who is not a registered voter may apply for an absent voter ballot pursuant to section 504:

(a) A civilian employee of the armed services outside of the United States.

(b) A member of the armed services outside of the United States.

(c) A citizen of the United States temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States.

(d) A citizen of the United States residing in the District of Columbia.

(e) A spouse or dependent of a person described in subdivisions (a) through (d) who is a citizen of the United States and who is accompanying that person, notwithstanding that the spouse or dependent is not a qualified elector of a city or township of this state, as long as that spouse or dependent is not a qualified and registered elector anywhere else in the United States.

(2) A citizen described in subsection (1) other than a person described in subsection (1)(b) or a spouse or dependent of such a person described in subsection (1)(b) shall include, with an application for an absent voter ballot or registration, an affidavit in a form and manner approved by the state director of elections stating either of the following:

(a) His or her qualifications as an elector at the time he or she departed from the United States or began residing in the District of Columbia and affirming that he or she has not relinquished his or her citizenship or established residence for voting in any other place.

(b) That he or she is a spouse or dependent of a person described in subsection (1)(a), (c), or (d), that he or she meets the qualifications as an elector other than residency in this state, and that he or she has not established a residence for voting in any other place.

(3) Upon receipt of an application under this section that complies with this act, a city or township clerk shall forward to the applicant the absent voter ballots requested, the forms necessary for registration, and instructions for completing the forms. If the ballots are not yet available at the time of receipt of the application, the clerk shall immediately forward to the applicant the registration forms and instructions, and forward the ballots as soon as they are available. If the ballots and registration forms are received before the close of the polls on election day and if the registration complies with the requirements of this act, the absent voter ballots shall be delivered to the proper election board to be voted. If the registration does not comply with the requirements of this act, the clerk shall retain the absent voter ballots until the expiration of the time that the voted ballots must be kept and shall then destroy the ballots without opening the envelope. The clerk may retain registration forms completed under this section in a separate file. The address in this state shown on a registration form is the residence of the registrant.

(4) The size of a precinct shall not be determined by registration forms completed under this section.

(5) A person described in subsection (1)(a) and (b) and a spouse or dependent of that person who is accompanying that person is registered to vote in a special primary or special general election if he or she was registered to vote under this section in the primary or general election immediately preceding the special primary or special general election. The city or township clerk who received that person's completed registration forms in the primary or general election shall forward to that person at his or her last known address an absent voter ballot for the special primary or special general election immediately upon the clerk's receipt of the absent voter ballots for the special primary or special general election.

(6) Pursuant to the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act, Public Law 99-410, 100 Stat. 924, the state director of elections shall approve a ballot form and registration procedures for electors in the armed services and electors outside the United States, including the spouses and dependents accompanying those electors.

(7) As used in this section, "armed services" means any of the following:

(a) The United States army, navy, air force, marine corps, or coast guard.

(b) The United States merchant marines.

(c) A reserve component of an armed service listed in subdivision (a) or (b).

(d) The Michigan national guard as defined in section 105 of the Michigan military act, 1967 PA 150, MCL 32.505.

History: Add. 1956, Act 21, Imd. Eff. Mar. 22, 1956 ;-- Am. 1971, Act 68, Eff. Oct. 1, 1971 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 207, Imd. Eff. May 21, 1996 ;-- Am. 1999, Act 216, Imd. Eff. Dec. 28, 1999
Popular Name: Election Code