With one week remaining before the August 4 statewide primary, voters with absentee ballots should mail them immediately or drop them off at their local drop box or clerk’s office as soon as possible. Michigan law states all ballots must be received by the clerk by 8 p.m. on August 4 in order to be counted. A list of ballot drop boxes is available online. Voters may only return their ballot to the drop box of their city or township.

All absentee ballot requests should now be made in person at the clerk’s office, and with the possibility of postal delays ahead of the primary, voters should prepare to both request and vote their ballot in the same visit. Ballots can be requested, filled out and immediately returned to the clerk now through 4 p.m. on August 3. Those still needing to register and then request and fill out a ballot can do so at their clerk’s office now through 8 p.m. on August 4.

The absent voter ballot count continues to climb, with more than 900,000 ballots already returned. More than 1.9 million have been issued, coming close to the 2.2 million total turnout for the 2018 primary, the highest primary turnout on record. A side by side comparison of the absent voter ballot data 7 days before the 2020 and 2016 primary elections is below and a breakdown of the numbers by jurisdiction is available online.