{"id":374559,"date":"2026-06-25T15:51:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/374559\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:51:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:51:32","slug":"as-ballots-go-out-what-to-know-about-voting-in-michigans-aug-4-primary-the-oakland-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/374559\/","title":{"rendered":"As ballots go out, what to know about voting in Michigan\u2019s Aug. 4 primary \u2013 The Oakland Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was\u00a0originally published<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Votebeat<\/a>, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.\u00a0Sign up for Votebeat Michigan\u2019s free newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n

By Hayley Harding, Votebeat<\/p>\n

Election season is officially kicking off in Michigan.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re still months out from the general election, but ballots start going out this week for the August primary election. And the sheer number of critical races means it\u2019s an election you won\u2019t want to miss. Here\u2019s everything you need to know about how to vote.<\/p>\n

When is the Michigan primary election?<\/p>\n

Primary Election Day in Michigan is Aug. 4. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time.<\/p>\n

But you can vote earlier if you choose. Absentee ballots will go out starting June 25 and can be returned any time by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Your community is also required to offer early in-person voting \u2014 you can check when and where that will be for your city or township at the Michigan Voter Information Center<\/a>, which is maintained by the state.<\/p>\n

Who can vote in the Michigan primary election?<\/p>\n

All registered voters can vote in primaries in Michigan. The state doesn\u2019t give voters the option to affiliate with a political party, meaning you will have to choose which partisan section of the ballot to fill out: Democratic or Republican. (Other parties, meaning any that got less than 5% of the statewide vote in the last secretary of state election, instead\u00a0choose their candidates for all offices<\/a>\u00a0at conventions.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to vote in only one of those sections. But who you voted for, including the party you selected, remains a secret.<\/p>\n

How do I check if I\u2019m registered to vote?<\/p>\n

Some communities may send you a notice with your polling place and districts on it, but the fastest and most efficient way is to look yourself up on\u00a0the Michigan Voter Information Center<\/a>. There, you can see if you\u2019re registered \u2014 and if you\u2019re on the list to automatically receive an absentee ballot by mail.<\/p>\n

How do I register to vote in Michigan?<\/p>\n

Registering to vote in Michigan is relatively easy and very quick.<\/p>\n

If you have a Michigan driver\u2019s license, the fastest way to do it is to\u00a0register online<\/a>. You\u2019ll need to affirm you\u2019re a U.S. citizen, a Michigan resident, and at least 18 years old (although those 16 to 17.5 can pre-register to vote). You\u2019ll need to authorize the secretary of state\u2019s office to use your stored signature \u2014 usually in the system from when you got your driver\u2019s license \u2014 for your registration.<\/p>\n

From there, the hardest part is pulling out your wallet to input your driver\u2019s license number. You\u2019ll affirm your information as it appears on your license, input the last four digits of your Social Security number, and then answer a few more questions.<\/p>\n

Any eligible voters can also register by mail by printing and mailing in\u00a0the forms here<\/a>, which are available in a variety of languages. And finally, you can register in person by bringing a photo ID and proof of where you live to your local clerk\u2019s office. You can\u00a0look up your local clerk here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The deadline to register online or by mail and participate in the primary is 15 days before the election \u2014 which, for the upcoming primary election, is July 20. But you can still register in person at your clerk\u2019s office after that \u2014 as late as Election Day itself.<\/p>\n

Where is my polling place?<\/p>\n

Yourpolling place may have moved since you last voted. A number of communities have\u00a0consolidated their precincts<\/a>\u00a0in recent years in response to changes in state law.<\/p>\n

You can look up where to go on\u00a0the Michigan Voter Information Center<\/a>. It will have the addresses and hours of your polling place, as well as all of your early voting locations and mail ballot drop boxes.<\/p>\n

What offices are on my ballot?<\/p>\n

This ballot is a long one, so don\u2019t be concerned if it takes you a little while to fill it out. However, remember to vote in only one of the two partisan sections (the Democratic column or the Republican column). If you vote in both, none of your votes in any partisan races will count. (This mistake, known as crossover voting,\u00a0inadvertently disenfranchises thousands of voters<\/a>\u00a0each primary, so make sure you\u2019re paying attention!)<\/p>\n

In the primary, voters will decide each party\u2019s nominees for the November election for the following offices:<\/p>\n

Governor
\nU.S. senator
\nU.S. representative
\nState senator
\nState representative
\nCertain local offices, such as township clerk, roads commissioner, and county executive
\nDelegate to county convention<\/p>\n

Your ballot may have a nonpartisan section as well, if your community has any races like that this year. Clawson voters, for example, will weigh in on judges. Mount Pleasant will vote for a nonpartisan city commissioner, while .<\/p>\n

Most communities will also have on the ballot proposals, millages, or whatever endeavors local officials are looking to approve. These often come from school districts, but they can also be to support roads, parks, animal shelters, and more.<\/p>\n

To check specifically what\u2019s on your ballot, visit\u00a0the Michigan Voter Information Center<\/a>, click \u201cWhat\u2019s on the ballot?<\/a>\u201d and then put in your jurisdiction. You can also see it on your own voter information page, which you can access by putting in your driver\u2019s license number or other identifying information\u00a0at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What should I bring to vote?<\/p>\n

If you choose to vote in person, the process will go fastest if you bring a photo ID. That can be a driver\u2019s license, a passport, a tribal card with photos, or a student ID \u2014 a number of things can work as long as it comes from a government institution and has a photo attached. You can find\u00a0a list of acceptable IDs here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But photo ID is not required to vote in Michigan if you don\u2019t have one or don\u2019t bring it with you. State law allows you to instead\u00a0fill out an affidavit<\/a>\u00a0confirming your identity. On that form, you\u2019ll confirm your name and address. Lying on the form is considered perjury, which comes with the potential for fines or jail time.<\/p>\n

If you need help voting, you have a right to bring someone along. That person cannot be your employer or someone acting on the behalf of your union, but otherwise they can help you cast your ballot.<\/p>\n

Can I vote early in person in Michigan?<\/p>\n

Yes!\u00a0State law requires<\/a>\u00a0that any election with federal or statewide races \u2014 think U.S. senators or the governor \u2014 has at least nine consecutive days of early in-person voting, starting on the second Saturday before the election (which, for this year\u2019s primary, is July 25).<\/p>\n

Communities are also allowed to offer additional days of early voting, although not all of them do (early voting requires money and staff resources that are difficult for some smaller communities to wrangle). You can check your community\u2019s specific hours and locations by\u00a0putting in your information here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How do I vote by mail in Michigan?<\/p>\n

Absentee ballots \u2014 which are used to vote by mail \u2014 will go out starting June 25. If you are already registered to vote and would like to request one,\u00a0you can do so online here<\/a>. Voters with disabilities\u00a0can request an accessible ballot here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Michigan voters have the right to be on what is referred to as the permanent absentee list, which means their local clerks will automatically send them a ballot for every election. If you\u2019re on that list, your clerk will mail your ballot on June 25. You can check if you\u2019re on the permanent absentee list by\u00a0putting your information in here<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 it will be in a box in the top corner labeled \u201cAbsentee Ballot,\u201d and you can check your status by seeing if it says \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d under \u201cPermanent Ballot List.\u201d If you\u2019re not already on the list, you can request to be added to it when you request your absentee ballot.<\/p>\n

The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election, which for this election is July 31. Your clerk\u2019s office will do their best to get it to you by Tuesday, but if it doesn\u2019t arrive in time, you can still show up to your polling place on Election Day, ask them to cancel the absentee ballot, and vote in person.<\/p>\n

In order for your absentee ballot to count, it must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day; postmarks don\u2019t count. If you\u2019re returning it by mail, most experts recommend putting it in the mail no later than a week before the election to give it time to make it back to your clerk. If you\u2019re running later than that (or want to ensure it arrives in time), it\u2019s recommended to use a drop box instead. Each community is required to set up drop boxes where voters can return their absentee ballots. You can look up drop box locations in your community by\u00a0putting your information in here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that drop boxes don\u2019t function like mail boxes \u2014 you can\u2019t drop your ballot just anywhere and expect it to make it to your clerk. Make sure you return it in a drop box designated for your specific city or township.<\/p>\n

Who can I ask if I have more questions?<\/p>\n

Your first stop is probably your clerk\u2019s office. Your clerk and their staff are extensively trained in election administration, and they can probably answer your questions. You can find\u00a0your clerk here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also reach out to Votebeat if you see something strange or run into problems. We\u2019d love to hear from you \u2014 reach out at\u00a0mich.tips@votebeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at\u00a0hharding@votebeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This article was\u00a0originally published\u00a0by\u00a0Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.\u00a0Sign up for Votebeat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[204,181,23,795,16663,100,143,145,144,13],"class_list":["post-374559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-election","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-michigan","tag-michigan-news","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}