LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday signed a package of bills allowing clerks in large cities two days of pre-processing time to make it faster to tabulate absentee ballots on Election Day.
The package, which was negotiated between Whitmer and the GOP-Legislature, also included provisions tightening security around ballot drop boxes and changing the way dead people are removed from voting rolls.
Those provisions will all take effect before the Nov. 8 election. Other measures in the package will take effect after, such as an expansion of locations that can be used as polling places and allowances that would make it possible for overseas military members to submit their absentee ballots electronically.
Whitmer's office celebrated the pre-processing provisions as a measure that will help "Michigan catch up to other states that provide the right to vote absentee to all voters." Because some clerks have already started hiring and training staff for the November elections, it's possible not all that are eligible will adopt pre-processing, the governor's office noted.
The office did not comment on the other measures contained in the package, two of which Whitmer has vetoed in the past.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson last week said the legislation was a "step in the right direction" in giving clerks the opportunity to deliver timely results. But she also criticized the military ballot law, because it stopped short of extending to the spouses of military members the right to submit an absentee ballot electronically.
"It remains to be seen whether an extra two days is sufficient to accomplish this goal, as data and best practices universally recommend at least seven days," Benson said in a statement.
The pre-processing provision would allow clerks in municipalities with populations of at least 10,000 to start working with absentee ballots two days ahead of the election in August and November elections. Under the pre-processing rules, clerks largely would be allowed to open the outer envelope, which contains the secrecy sleeve that holds the absentee ballot, and to check the ballot number on the return envelope in order to save time processing votes on Election Day.
The drop box requirement would mandate that drop boxes are in public, open spaces, have locks and seals, have limited openings that only allow a ballot through and have secure transportation containers.
The law also would require local clerks to visit the drop boxes regularly close to the election, record how many ballots are coming out of them, which drop box they came from and who transported them.
The provisions related to military ballots would allow active, overseas military members to electronically submit their absentee ballots. The allowance would be limited to military members and would not include their family members.
The dead voters provision would allow county clerks to remove known dead voters from voting rolls. The legislation would also require daily checks of the voter rolls for dead voters in the two weeks ahead of an August or November election and prompt notifications to a local clerk if a voter is found to have died.
The polling location legislation allows senior housing facilities, apartment buildings, banquet facilities and recreation clubhouses to be used as polling locations, so long as the owner isn't a donor to a political or independent committee.
Whitmer vetoed the bills related to dead voters and polling locations when they were passed previously by the House and Senate, citing concerns about increasing burdens on clerk and suppression of votes.
