October 21, 2011 (Issue 2011-47)

The Bureau of Elections is instituting a limited number of changes to Applications to Vote and Absent Voter Ballot Applications, which will go into effect with the February 28, 2012 Presidential Primary.  The changes include:

 1) Ballot Selection Area - A Ballot Selection Area must be added to Applications to Vote and Absent Voter Ballot Applications, for use only with the February 28, 2012 Presidential Primary.  Voters must be clearly directed to select a specific ballot type.  Example:

In 2008, these portions of the applications were in tear-off form and were not retained. NOTE under the new Presidential Primary law, this information must be retained for 22 months, so therefore will remain as a permanent part of the applications.

QVF Produced AV Ballot Applications:  The QVF provides two options for printing Absent Voter Ballot Applications:

a) "Pre-printed form:""  This option may be used for the February 28, 2012 Presidential Primary, using a vendor-generated form that includes the ballot selection language.  If using this option, please work with your printer to ensure your pre-printed form works with the format for the QVF-generated data.

b) "QVF-printed form:" The form produced by the QVF will not be changed to accommodate the Presidential Primary.  Jurisdictions that ordinarily use the QVF-printed form are advised to use a vendor-generated form in conjunction with the pre-printed form option for the Presidential Primary.  Note that costs associated with purchasing vendor-generated AV Ballot Application forms are subject to reimbursement pursuant to MCL 168.624g. 

2) Citizenship Verification - Many jurisdictions have previously or are currently including the "Are you a United States Citizen?" question on Applications to Vote.  This question must be added to all Applications to Vote for all future elections, beginning with the February 28, 2012 Presidential Primary.  The question should be followed by Yes/No selections and ovals or arrows for the voter to fill in (oval or arrow depending on the type of voting system in use).

In addition, Absent Voter Ballot Applications must now include a citizenship verification statement and check-box.  The statement shall read:  "I am a United States Citizen."  This statement and check-box should appear above the area that asks for the voter's statutory reason for the absent voter ballot request.

NOTE:  Jurisdictions with existing stock (without the citizenship verification) will be permitted to use this stock, but we ask that the citizenship verification be added to all forms no later than the November, 2012 general election.

3) Recording Ballot style on Applications to Vote - Several jurisdictions have expressed a wish to record Ballot style on the Application to Vote (in the form area completed by Election Inspectors).  This is an acceptable change if your jurisdiction is interested in including a permanent space to record Ballot style. 

Printers:  Please submit proofs of your proposed designs as soon as possible to the Bureau of Elections at

Elections@Michigan.gov.

County and Local Clerks:  Please ensure any printers you use for these materials are aware of these changes and the process for submitting proofs, as this notification will only be sent to printers that have asked to be included on our e-mail notification list.

Additional information regarding the upcoming Presidential Primary, including detailed procedures, will be released in the next few weeks.  Questions?  Please contact the Bureau of Elections at: 1-800-292-5973.