Unless you are serving in the military or living overseas, your ballot must be received by your local clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day (November 3) to count. After tomorrow, we no longer recommend returning your ballot by mail. Starting on Wednesday (October 21) you should:

 Drop your ballot off at your local clerk’s office or satellite office or in a secure drop box in your city or township. You can find your clerk’s office(s), satellite office(s), and drop box(es) by visiting MI.gov/vote and clicking on “Your voter information.” You can also have an immediate family member (including a father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild) or a person from your household drop your ballot off for you.

 If you are unable to drop your ballot off or have an eligible person drop it off for you, you can ask your city or township clerk to pick up your completed ballot. You can use this option as long as your ballot is in the city or township where you are registered to vote and you contact your clerk by 5 p.m. on Friday, October 30. To find the phone number for your city or township clerk, visit MI.gov/vote and click on “Where are my clerk’s offices?”

 Bring your completed ballot to your early voting site or (if you live anywhere other than Detroit) to your polling place on Election Day and feed it into a tabulator. Just tell the poll workers you’d like to do this when you check in. You can find your early voting site(s) and Election Day polling place by visiting MI.gov/vote and clicking on “Your voter information.” 

 We encourage you to track your absentee ballot and application by visiting mi.gov/voteand clicking on “Your voter information.” (If there’s no date under a particular step, it means that step is not complete.) You can also sign up for tracking notifications by email.To sign up, go to mi.gov/vote and click on “subscribe to ballot notifications.” 

 And before submitting your completed absentee ballot, be sure to sign your ballot envelope with your official signature, that is, the signature you used for your driver’s license or your voter registration form. If you don’t sign your ballot envelope, your ballot will be rejected.

 If you encounter any problems or have questions about voting, call the nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline: (866) OUR-VOTE | (866) 687-8683. (For nonpartisan election protection hotlines in other languages, click here.)

Upcoming Key Dates for the November 3 Election:

 Now: Vote in person, with an absentee ballot, at your city or township clerk’s office. (At this point, we no longer recommend applying for a ballot by mail.)

 Today (October 19): Last day to register to vote online or by mail to vote in the November 3 General Election. (Starting October 20, you’ll need to register in person at your city or township clerk’s office with proof of residency.)

 Tomorrow (October 20): For most voters,* this is the last day we recommend returning your ballot by mail to avoid postal delays. (Starting October 21, we recommend returning your ballot in person to yourcity or township clerk’s office or to a secure drop box in your community.)

 October 24: First day of the statewide in-person early voting period. All communities must offer in-personearly voting at a designated early voting site starting on this day. Contact your clerk or visit mi.gov/vote to find out when and where you can vote early in person for the November 3 General Election.

 *If you’re serving in the military or living overseas, your ballot must be postmarked by Election Day (November 3) and received by Monday, November 9 to count.