Lansing, Mich. (WLNS) – Today, the City Clerk’s Office broke the 20,000 mark for ballots mailed out to voters for the August Primary Election. This is four times as many ballots compared to last partisan primary in 2018 when 5,634 were sent by the same date.
So far 7,350 ballots have been returned. In order for a ballot to be counted, it must be returned by 8 pm on Election Day, August 4th, to the City Clerk’s Office. Secure drop boxes are available at the South Washington Election Unit and City Hall in order to return ballots, as an alternative to mailing them. The U.S. Post Office has shared with municipal clerks that mail could take a week to reach its destination.
For the first time, voters who provided their email to the Clerk’s Office were provided a tracking link to check the status of their ballot as it travels through the U.S. Postal Service.
Many more applications are expected to come in as voters still have weeks to submit a request for a ballot. An application can be submitted either online, mail, email, fax, or in-person. To see the options to submit an application, go to lansingmi.gov/clerk or call 517-483-4131.
“I am excited to see this dramatic increase in voter participation. I hope that this high volume of voter participation becomes the new normal,” said Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope. “I encourage the public to submit their application to vote at home sooner rather than later, so that voters will have more options to return their ballot and not feel rushed. With the new innovation for tracking their ballot if they do mail it, I hope this provides added confidence that their ballot has been received and properly counted. ”
