Automatic Voter Registration

As a reminder, Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) rolled out in the branch offices last week.  Now, customers at branch offices for driver’s licenses (DL) and personal identification cards (PID) who are eligible but not currently registered to vote will be automatically registered to vote unless the person opts out. Instead of filling out a separate voter registration form, the voter registration question is now built into the driver’s license application. Each customer who goes in for a DL or PID transaction (new, renewal, change of address, etc.) will fill out a form, which will include a citizenship question and an opt-out box that eligible customers may check if they don't wish to be registered to vote. Branch office staff will verify eligibility during the DL transaction; non-citizens and other ineligible customers won't be registered regardless of whether or not they check the opt-out box.

What does this mean for me?

Forms and process are changing, but you will continue to receive voter registration information electronically through QVF.  The branch office voter registration application form number ED-74 (a.k.a. the “blue and white”) will now function as a receipt. You will continue to be mailed the blue and white, but there is no longer a need to verify a new voter signed the form, and therefore you will no longer need to mark any voters who registered through a branch office “verify-sign
registration card.” You also no longer need to verify an applicant checked the citizenship box.

Both signature verification and eligibility verification will occur at the branch. When you receive a branch receipt, you need to simply do the following:

1. verify the voter is in QVF

2. enter the voter in to QVF if they are not

3. print a mastercard

4. print and send a voter identification card

There may be a short period of time when you receive both the old and new versions of the blue and white, but this will end once all of the old blue and whites sent prior to Sept. 9 are received. While this new version does not contain a signature, QVF will be updated with the digital signature once all of the server processes occur.

Remember that the old blue and whites still need to be signed, but the new blue and whites don't. You will be able to tell the difference between the old and new blue and whites based on how they look. The old blue and whites will include a voter declaration and two signatures on stickers. The new blue and white won't have a voter declaration and will include a notice that a signature is no longer required.

Finally, eligible customers who update or renew their DL or PID online will also be automatically registered to vote unless they opt out. You will also receive this information through QVF.

Automatic voter registration doesn't change the process for currently registered voters. Those who are updating their DL addresses will continue to have their voter registration address updated. A currently registered voter won't cancel their registration by opting out of voter registration on a DL form.

New AV Envelopes

The Bureau of Elections Forms Committee of local and county clerks has been working with the Center for Civic Design to redesign the absent voter ballot envelopes. The previous design was encountering more and more issues with the United States Postal Service (USPS) and sometimes the misdirection of ballots. The primary purpose of this redesign was to prevent that issue and ultimately the disenfranchisement of voters. 

The new design (view example here) has a more modern look and feel including a few small details that should have big impacts on voters properly returning their ballot. This includes:

• The voter's signature on the backside of the envelope, the side they will see when sealing the envelope.
•  The ballot label will be on the backside of the envelope, allowing you to view the ballot number without flipping over the envelope.
• Clear language (when not prescribed by law) to explain delivery options.
• Coloring for outgoing and return that allows us to train USPS to know that blue should be going to a voter, green to a clerk. Other states are adopting the same color scheme which will help with ballots being sent outside of Michigan as well.

The new design will be rolled out in 2020 beginning with the Presidential Primary. These items will be reimbursed as part of the Presidential Primary reimbursement process. 

Careful consideration has been given to the new designs and with the anticipated increase in absentee voting that we are expecting after the passage of Proposal 18-3 last November, it is extremely important that we all make every effort to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible for the voters in Michigan and that every valid vote counts. Use of the new voter ballot envelopes being across the state is key in ensuring voters ballots are sent to them or the clerk as appropriate.

More Proposal 18-3 Town Hall Sessions Scheduled

In April, we released a required online training course, Proposal 18-3 & Election Administration. The course covered the changes to election law from the passage of Proposal 18-3. More than 2,300 election administrators have completed the online course. If you haven't taken the course yet, please do so as soon as possible.

In April and July, we also scheduled in-person "town hall" training sessions for those who have more
questions and want to talk to a trainer. Several more sessions are being scheduled near jurisdictions
conducting elections in November.

Sessions that start the week of September 30 have been scheduled, others are in the process and should be listed by the end of the week. To sign up for a session near you, register for the Proposal 18-3 Election Administration Town Hall Session in the eLearning Center. Attendance at these sessions is optional.

Don’t forget: We’ve run many articles in the News Update regarding Proposal 18-3, modified all of the Election Officials’ Manuals, and have a Frequently Asked Questions document available for your review. If you have other questions about the new laws and process, don't hesitate to contact us.

QVF Refresh Update

The QVF Refresh Software Release for September 13, 2019 includes the following:

• Inbox.  Added a success message when sending an i.d. card to print later.
• Reports.  Corrected issue with updating mailing address by ensuring that only the most recent address is reflected.

ePollbook Training

The Bureau of Elections has multiple ePollbook training opportunities over the next months.

EPB Practice & Education Day

The QVF Help Desk is hosting an EPB Practice Day for all EPB users on October 8, 2019. We are dedicating this day to answer questions about the Electronic Poll Book and provide webinars about this topic. Blocking off this day a month before the election will allow you to spend some time preparing your laptop for the election, practice the EPB, and take the time to learn more about the EPB download from QVF Refresh and other useful practices. Since the QVF Help Desk will be less busy October 8 than we will be right before or on Election Day, we can dedicate more time to answering your questions on practice day.

Throughout the day we will conduct teleconference webinars, answer your phone calls, and assist you as you pull out those laptops and begin practicing for the November 5, 2019, election.

The agenda for the day includes:

• QVF Refresh EPB Training Webinars
• EPB Preparation Information Webinar
• EPB Practice Scenarios
• EPB Download Stress Testing
• Lots of staff available to answer your EPB specific needs

To participate in a webinar, you must sign up to get the login information. Seating is limited. To sign up, login to the eLearning Center and select your preferred webinar(s). Consider inviting your fellow clerks and/or staff to all view the webinar in a group to allow for more attendees on the line.

Electronic Pollbook Refresh Training for Current EPB Users

This is an in-person presentation style class (not hands on) for current users of the ePollbook interested in a demonstration of the QVF Refresh changes to the EPB and a review of basic EPB procedures. Four sessions have been scheduled in September and October for those conducting a November election or those looking ahead to next year. 

To attend, you must register in the eLearning Center. We are looking forward to supporting users across the state with their EPB needs.

Special News Update November Election Series

The November 5, 2019, election is rapidly approaching.

Just over 600 jurisdictions in the state will be conducting an election.

Beginning Wednesday, September 18, BOE will start sending out a special series of News Updates for the November election. The Special Edition November Election Reminders News Updates will be sent only to those jurisdictions and counties that have voters with a November 5 election.

Review the November 2019 Election Dates and Deadlines Calendar to start preparing.

Voter Participation Center Mailing

The Bureau of Elections has received word that the Voter Participation Center (VPC) and Center for Voter Information (CVI) will once again be mailing voter registration forms to possible unregistered voters across the state. When applicants return completed forms to the BOE, we will sort them and send them to the appropriate local clerk.

Other than the approval of the voter registration form, the BOE doesn't have any other connection to this project.

If voters have questions regarding how these organizations obtained their nonregistration or registration information, direct them to VPC via email info@voterparticipation.org or telephone: 877-255-6750 or CVI's website. The VPC logo seen above may help you when communicating with your voters.

BOE Question of the Week:

Someone in my office is not receiving the News Update; how can they sign up?

Answer: Clerks and Deputy Clerks are added to the News Update mailing list as eLearning Center accounts are added or deleted.  If you'd like others to receive the News Update, scroll to the bottom of this News Update and click on the Subscribe link

Have a question you'd  like to see
in the Question of the Week?  Send it to elections@michigan.gov.