MEA Votes

A new acquaintance Friday asked me how to vote absentee. Why? On Nov. 2, 2004, at about 8:30 p.m. after a long day at work, she realized that she’d forgotten to get by the polls to vote in the presidential election. Yikes!

She doesn’t want it to happen in this year’s don’t-miss election -- and neither do you. So who can vote absentee and how does it work?

If you (or someone you know) are a registered voter and suspect you might be unable to get to the polls on Election Day, Nov. 4, you can get an absentee ballot if you are:

• age 60 or older;
• unable to vote without assistance at the polls;
• expecting to be out of town on election day;
• in jail awaiting arraignment or trial;
• unable to get to the polls for religious reasons;
• Working as an election inspector in a precinct other than the one in which you live.

All you have to do is go to www.Michigan.gov/vote to find the easy form you fill out, along with some further instructions, and mail it back to your city or township clerk (an online tool is provided to find that address). Use the same link, if by chance, you are not registered to vote. Deadline for voter registration so that you can participate in the November election is Oct. 6.

One note: if you registered to vote by mail, you have to vote in person in the first election in which you participate. But if you’ve voted in any election since registering to vote by mail (such as a school election), you are in the clear to vote absentee in this one.

Sound simple enough? While others are standing in line on Election Day, you’ll be home tuning in the TV, ready to watch those election results.

By Tricia Bosak, NEA Campaigns and Elections staff in Michigan