BOE support for first week of early voting

The following technical QVF and election administration support will be available:

Saturday and Sunday: 5 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Monday – Friday: 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

If your call goes to voicemail, please leave only one message with detailed information about the problem you are encountering. This allows Bureau staff to return calls effectively and to provide help to everyone efficiently.

Phone numbers:

QVF/EV EPB Technical Questions: 800-310-5697

Election Administration Questions: 517-335-3237

Early Voting: Saturday Morning Setup and Offline/Paper Backup Procedures

If you are having trouble connecting to the early voting EPB, please ensure your early voting EPB laptop is connected to the internet and you have reviewed the Early Voting EPB manual. If you have not already done so, please contact the individual or entity responsible for providing IT or internet support for your early voting site and determine how you can best reach them if you need assistance.  Please make sure you have your internet service provider or IT support phone number available in case your early voting site loses connectivity.

BOE anticipates that peak call and email volume from clerks will occur the first Saturday morning of early voting as early voting sites are set up for the first time. As noted above, if you are unable to resolve a connectivity issue and need assistance, please leave only one message with detailed information about the problem you are encountering so that we may assist you and other jurisdictions most efficiently.

Note that if you do not have access to the early voting EPB during the early voting period, early voting can and should still continue. The early voting EPB has been thoroughly tested and we do not expect any interruptions in connectivity on the state end, but you can continue to operate an early voting site if you lose connectivity during any part of the early voting period or any other unforeseen circumstances. 

Please utilize the linked Early Voting Offline/Paper Back-up Procedures as stop gap steps if connectivity is temporarily lost. Once connection resumes you will need to ‘catch up’ the Early Voting Electronic Pollbook (EV EPB) to ensure that voter activity is recorded timely in the Qualified Voter File (QVF). 

Early voting information and materials playlist in eLearning

To find a collection of all our guides and resources developed for early voting, please visit our early voting information and materials playlist.  We continue to add materials to this playlist in response to feedback from election administrators. Make sure to follow this playlist and check it regularly to view updated and added materials.

These materials include:

• Early Voting Electronic Poll Book Manual
• Early Voting Region QVF Setup Guide
• Early Voting EPB QVF Setup Guide
• Early Voting EPB Virtual Presentation
• Virtual Early Voting EPB Training Recording
• Early Voting Electronic Poll Book Sandbox
• Qualified Voter File Sandbox
• QVF + EV EPB Sandbox Guide
• QVF + EV EPB Sandbox Tutorial Video
• Eary Voting EPB Security Best Practices
• Early Voting Site Offline Paper Back-up Procedures
• Eary Voting Procedures Virtual Training Presentation
• EV Quick Guide for Early Voting Equipment

EV Quick Guide for Early Voting equipment

In response to questions received, the Bureau has published an EV Quick Guide for Early Voting equipment document in eLearning, which contains guidance on the physical security of early voting equipment, along with procedures to follow at the end of each day of early voting, including which reports should be generated for each voting system. This is available in the early voting information and materials playlist.

Early Absent Voter Ballot Processing and Tabulating Guide

Public Act 81 of 2023 amended the Michigan Election Law to allow jurisdictions to convene absent voter counting boards to process and tabulate absent voter ballots prior to Election Day. For those jurisdictions who are participating in the preprocessing and tabulation of AV ballots, please review the Early Absent Voter Ballot Processing and Tabulating guide, now available in eLearning.

Voter preregistration

Public Act 258 of 2023 allows for eligible 16-year-olds in Michigan to preregister to vote. Upon turning 17.5, the individual becomes registered to vote and eligible to vote in the next election where they turn 18.

The Bureau has developed a paper and online application for preregistration. If clerks receive any paper preregistration applications at this time, please hold the application and do not process it until after the Presidential Primary. The Bureau will provide  guidance on how to process the preregistration application after the Presidential Primary.

Changes for voters registering to vote in the 14 days prior to an election and Election Day

Public Act 184 of 2023 removes the requirement to process a ballot as challenged depending on which type of documentation a voter provides for residency verification. Now, if a voter registers to vote or changes their voter registration address with residency verification in the 14 days prior to an election or on Election Day, they must be issued a regular ballot with no additional challenge markings. The Qualified Voter File has been updated to print a single receipt type reflecting the steps for issuing a regular ballot.

Political party challenger credentials

Under MCL 168.730, “a political party… may designate not more than 2 challengers to serve in a precinct at any 1 time…. If more than 1 challenger of a political party, incorporated organization, or organized committee of interested citizens is serving in a precinct at any 1 time, only 1 of the challengers has the authority to initiate a challenge at any given time.” As further explained in the Appointment, Rights, and Duties of Election Challengers and Poll Watchers, political parties appoint a challenger by giving the person a credential indicating that the person is serving as a challenger on behalf of the party (Michigan Challenger Credential Card). The Bureau of Elections is aware that at this time, two different individuals, Kristina Karamo and Peter Hoekstra, claim to be the Chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and the issue of who is the Chair is currently under litigation in at least two state circuit courts.

Accordingly, Michigan Republican Party challengers may present a Michigan Challenger Credential Card signed either by Ms. Karamo or Mr. Hoekstra, and be admitted as challengers. However, no more than 2 total challengers from the Michigan Republican Party may be at the precinct at a time, and only one may initiate challenges. If there are more than 2 challengers seeking to be present, and the purported challengers cannot agree on who will remain in the precinct, the challenger liaison should recognize the 2 challengers who first presented a challenger credential card to the challenger liaison. If the challengers cannot agree on who will initiate challenges, the challenger liaison should recognize the challenger who first presented a challenger credential card to the challenger liaison.

The same process should be followed when determining the challengers permitted in an early voting site, absent voter counting board, or absent voter ballot processing location.

Non-challengers may remain in the polling place as poll watchers. In the event of a dispute in which challengers or purported challengers do not follow the challenger liaison’s instructions or become disruptive, the challenger liaison should contact the local clerk and/or law enforcement. 

Presidential Primary Local Election Officials Election Day Information Sharing Room

The Bureau of Elections invites all local election officials to join the Election Day information sharing room. The purpose of this room is to share election related information, in particular information regarding incidents that have occurred, between local government officials, local election officials, and the Michigan Election Incident Response Team. You may log in and use the chat area to stay informed and report any election security related incidents directly or request guidance on security related issues. Information shared in this room should be considered raw information and should not be shared with the public or the media. The room will be open February 27, 2024, from 7:00 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Attendance in this room is optional, and you may drop in and out throughout the day for updates.

Access to this room is by request only. Once requested you will receive a link to the session. The session will be on the Adobe Connect Platform, which may require a download on your system. Please e-mail David Tarrant at Tarrantd2@Michigan.gov to request a link.

Requirements for Voter Registration Challenges:

A letter describing the requirements for voter registration challenges is available in the eLearning Center. If you have any questions about these requirements or challenges you have received, please contact the Bureau of Elections. Bureau of Elections.

Reminders:

Updated Election Crimes Manual

BOE has updated the manual that describes election-related offenses, available through the BOE web page. This includes new information based on the enactment of Public Acts 252 and 253 of 2023, which made it a crime for an individual to intimidate an election worker, including an election inspector, because of their status as an election worker and with the specific intent to interfere with their performance of election-related duties. For a first or second offense, the individual who intimidates the election worker is guilty of a misdemeanor. For a third or subsequent offense, the individual is guilty of a felony. This prohibition on interference does not apply to constitutionally protected activity such as reporting or advocacy.

Presidential Primary FAQ

An updated presidential primary FAQ document is available through the BOE web page.

2024 Presidential Primary electronic pollbook addendum, including Election Day absent voter ballot conversion to Election Day ballot

The February 27, 2024 Michigan Presidential Primary requires tracking a voter’s ballot selection of a Democratic ballot, Republican ballot, or a ballot without a Presidential Primary where applicable. This requires temporary changes to certain election and Electronic Pollbook (EPB) procedures. This guide also provides procedural guidance on EPB procedures to document voter tabulation of AV Ballots on Election Day. Refer to the 2024 Presidential Primary Electronic Pollbook Addendum in eLearning.

Signature cure notices

As described in the Oct. 12, 2023 News Update, voters have until 4 p.m. on the fourth day before Election Day to cure a signature deficiency on an AV ballot application and 5 p.m. on the third day after Election Day to cure a signature deficiency on an AV ballot return envelope. BOE has updated the Absent Voter Ballot Application Signature Cure Notice and the Absent Voter Ballot Return Envelope Signature Cure Form templates to incorporate early voting and the new spoilation deadline, and those templates are available on eLearning.

You may also refer to BOE’s Signature Verification Training and Signature Verification and Voter Notification document for guidance on signature matching.