Military/Overseas AV Delivery Requirement is Saturday

IMPORTANT REMINDER: If you have an November election and have received one or more ballot requests from military or overseas protected voters since November 7, 2018, ballots MUST be emailed, faxed or postal mailed by Saturday, September 21, via the voter's preferred method. If regular ballots are NOT available to be mailed by Saturday, the "MOVE ballot" in QVF Refresh must be printed and mailed instead.

Electronic ballots are available now

You can obtain the electronic ballot by entering the application in the voter's record in QVF Refresh. Full instructions can be found on page 6 of the Military and Overseas Voters Manual for Election Administrators.

Be sure to proof electronic ballots before sending to ensure their accuracy.

For more information and full instructions, please review the Military and Overseas Voters Manual for Election Administrators.

Military and Overseas Voter Compliance Report Changes

The Military and Overseas Voter Compliance Report has been made “smarter” and has a new home within the QVF Refresh software. Jurisdictions will be prompted with the new screen, once the delivery requirement has begun for the upcoming election. All users with an election will receive the survey pop-up when they login, but the survey can be submitted only once per jurisdiction. The survey pop-up will appear upon each login until a response has been submitted from the jurisdiction. To respond at a later time, or if someone else from the office will respond, simply close the pop-up to dismiss the report. A response is due by Tuesday, September 24.

To make this reporting process more efficient, the ballot sent dates recorded in QVF will be used to report ballots sent on time and ballots sent after the 45-day deadline. Once you confirm the total military and overseas voters count in the QVF, we will report the required information to the appropriate entity.

If the count of UOCAVA voters found in QVF matches the total applications received by the MOVE Ballot deadline, then you can respond by checking “YES”.

Review your UOCAVA voters in the QVF for accuracy. As a reminder, voters shouldn't be marked in this manner unless an application was submitted by the voter after November 7, 2018 for the 2019 calendar year.

Communicating Mail System Changes to Military and Overseas Voters

On September 24 and 25, a meeting will be held to determine if the US withdraws from the Universal Postal Union. USPS and FVAP have been working on contingency plans but those plans aren't guaranteed to be in place for this election. 

The Center for Civic Design has worked with the National Association of State Election Directors and National Association of Secretaries of State to develop language for clerks to use to communicate these changes to their military and overseas voters. Language to include with your ballots and communications to these voters can be found starting on page 7 of their UPU messaging to UOCAVA voters guide. Please note the fax or email lines should NOT be included as that isn't a legal option for returning a ballot in the State of Michigan.

The Guide also provides recommendations on other places you may want to include this information including your local election website and social media.

Help Desk Available Saturday

The QVF Help Desk will be available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, September 21, 2019, to support those local clerks who are printing or downloading electronic MOVE ballots and processing the transaction in QVF to meet the military and overseas voter Saturday delivery requirement for the November 5 election.

If you need assistance, please don't hesitate to call at 800-310-5697 and leave a voicemail. Your call will be returned ASAP.

Delivery of November Ballots

Per MCL 168.714, absent voter ballots for the November 5 election must be delivered to local clerks by the county clerk no later than 45 days prior to the election. County clerks must ensure ballots are delivered by September 21 for the November election.