If a voter wants their absentee ballot to count, they must sign the ballot envelope with their official signature. (A voter's "official signature" is the one that they use to sign official documents, like a lease or a driver's license, as opposed to what they use to sign for their groceries at the grocery store.)

 In November 2020 alone, more than 3,200 ballots were rejected because of signature issues –  either the voter did not sign the ballot envelope or the city or township clerk found that the voter’s signature did not sufficiently match the signature on file. While it is possible for a voter to correct these issues by visiting their clerk's office, doing so can often be difficult and time consuming. Therefore, please remind voters to sign their ballot envelope - and sign with their official signature - before they submit their absentee ballot.

 And of course, if a voter has already submitted their ballot, they can confirm that it was received by their city or township clerk by visiting MI.gov/VOTE. All they need to do is click on “your voter information” and enter the required information. 

 Voters can use MI.gov/VOTE to see if:

•  Their absentee ballot application was processed by their city or township clerk
• Their absentee ballot was mailed to them
• Their completed absentee ballot was received by their city or township clerk

 If a particular step is complete (for example, if the application was processed by the city or township clerk) MVIC will show the date that it was completed. If there’s no date under a particular step, it means that step is not yet complete.