How do I register to vote?
How do I register to vote?To register to vote, you must be all of the following:
- A U.S. citizen
- At least 18 years old by Election Day
- A resident of Michigan
- A resident of the city or township where you are applying to register to vote.
Due to the passage of the statewide ballot proposal 18-3, all eligible and registered voters in Michigan may now request an absent voter ballot and VOTE by Mail without providing a reason.
On April 30, 2020 the State of Michigan changed their website www.michigan.gov/vote to allow almost everything to be done on-line that used to require paper forms or visits to the Secretary of State’s office.
These things can now be done either via computer or right on your smart phone. They include:
- View voter registration status
- Register to vote
- View permanent absentee voting status
- Apply for permanent absentee voting status
- View polling location
- View your sample ballot
- View local clerk information
- View voting district information
The site is currently not without problems since it is new. It has links to the old site in which you had to download paper forms that had to be mailed in to the appropriate clerk, so until they get it fixed, please follow these instructions.
When you open the site, the first thing you will see is the following:
Ignore this!!! It takes you to the old site that requires you to fill out paper forms.
Continue instead down to the next section that instructs you to fill out your name, birth month, birth year, and zip code. Then click on the “search by name” button.
If it fails to find you, it probably means that you are not registered to vote at your location. If that is the case follow the instructions to register. The only extra piece of information that you will need is your driver’s license or State of Michigan picture ID.
Assuming that you are registered to vote at your location, a new page will appear that will show all of your voter information. Above the map showing your polling location, there is a section titled “Absentee Voter Ballot Status”. It will either confirm that you are on the permanent absentee voter list or contain a button that you can click on to sign up for it. The information that it will ask for is your name, driver’s license or state ID number, birth date, eye color (from your driver’s license), and your Social Security number.
That’s all it takes to sign up!