Michigan Administrative Code › Department - State › Elections & Campaign Finance › Signature Matching for Absent Voter Ballot Applications and Absent Voter Ballot Envelopes › Section R. 168.25 - Timing of signature review and notification

Current through Vol. 24-12, July 15, 2024
Rule 5.
(1) If the
				absent voter ballot application or the absent voter ballot envelope is received
				at least 6 calendar days prior to the election, the clerk must notify the voter
				of issues with the voter's signature by the end of the next business day
				following receipt of the application or ballot envelope.
(2) If the absent voter ballot application or
				the absent voter ballot envelope is received less than 5 calendar days prior to
				the election, an election official must review that absent voter ballot
				application or absent voter ballot envelope by the end of the calendar day on
				which the absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot envelope was
				received by the clerk. If the election official determines that the voter's
				signature on the absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot
				envelope does not agree sufficiently with the signature on file, the election
				official must contact the voter by the end of the calendar day on which the
				absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot envelope was received by
				the clerk.
(3) If the absent voter
				ballot application or the absent voter ballot envelope is received by the clerk
				by 8 p.m. on the calendar day prior to an election, an election official must
				review the absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot envelope
				before the end of the calendar day prior to the election. If the election
				official determines that the voter's signature on the absent voter ballot
				application or absent voter ballot envelope does not agree sufficiently with
				the signature on file, the election official must contact the voter by the end
				of the calendar day prior to the election.
(4) For the purposes of this rule, if the
				absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot envelope comes into the
				physical control of the clerk's office before or during the clerk's scheduled
				business hours, that absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot
				envelope is considered to have been received by the clerk on the day of
				submission. If an absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot
				envelope comes into the physical control of the clerk's office after the end of
				the clerk's scheduled business hours, or if the absent voter ballot application
				or absent voter ballot envelope comes into the physical control of the clerk's
				office on a day on which the clerk does not have scheduled business hours, that
				absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot envelope is considered
				to have been received on the first subsequent day during which the clerk has
				scheduled business hours.
(5) If a
				clerk's jurisdiction maintains one or more absent voter ballot application or
				absent voter ballot envelope drop boxes, each drop box must be checked by an
				election official for any absent voter ballot applications or absent voter
				ballot envelopes that have been deposited prior to the end of the clerk's
				scheduled business hours on every day during which the clerk has scheduled
				business hours. The election official checking the drop box must retrieve each
				absent voter ballot application or absent voter ballot envelope contained in
				the drop box at that time. Each absent voter ballot application or absent voter
				ballot envelope retrieved at that time is considered to have been received by
				the clerk on that day. An absent voter ballot application or absent voter
				ballot envelope deposited in those drop boxes on a day during which the clerk
				does not have scheduled business hours will not be considered to have been
				received by the clerk until the next day on which the clerk has scheduled
				business hours.
(6) An absent voter
				ballot envelope that is collected by an election official through the procedure
				laid out in 764b(4) or (5), 1954 PA 116, MCL
				168.764b, shall be considered
				received when the election official comes into physical possession of the
				ballot envelope.
(7) Nothing in
				this rule shall prevent an election official from providing notification more
				quickly than mandated by this rule to a voter that the voter's absent voter
				ballot application signature or absent voter ballot envelope signature has been
				determined not to agree sufficiently with the signature on file.
(8) If the absent voter ballot application or
				the absent voter ballot envelope is missing the voter's signature, or if the
				clerk determines that the voter's signature on the absent voter ballot
				application or on the absent voter ballot envelope does not agree sufficiently
				with the voter's signature on file, the clerk shall inform the voter using any
				and all contact information available that their absent voter ballot
				application or their absent voter ballot envelope is missing a signature or has
				a non-matching signature, and the need to cure the signature deficiency. The
				clerk must notify the voter by phone and email, and, in the absence of the
				voter's email address, by United States mail.