Residents to receive absentee voting applications

All Michigan residents who are registered to vote in the August primary will receive an application to vote by absentee ballot, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced, a number that covers approximately 7.7 million state voters. Birmingham residents may have received an email earlier in the week inviting them to sign up to join the permanent absentee ballot list. City manager Joe Valentine explained that city residents currently on the absentee ballot list, or who recently signed up for it, will be mailed their applications from the city, while all other registered voters will receive theirs from the state. The city's notice read: “This week the Birmingham City Clerk’s Office will be mailing reminder cards to join the Permanent Absent Voter List to all registered voters who have not yet joined. Adding your name to the Permanent Absent Voter List means that you will receive an absent ballot application in the mail for every election. After you return the application, the Clerk’s Office will send you your ballot as soon as they arrive in our office. “Absent voting has many benefits including avoiding long lines, the ability to maintain social distancing, and time to study the ballot. The Clerk’s Office encourages you to join the Permanent Absent Voter List if you wish to automatically receive absent ballot applications in the future.” Contrary to miscommunication from President Trump and others, there is no record of voter fraud through voting by absentee ballots, which has been done by years by seniors and others. Members of the U.S. military vote absentee. In 2018, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative for no-reason absentee voting.