The Michigan Constitution guarantees the right to state-funded prepaid postage to return an AV ballot application, a voted AV ballot, and a signature cure form. In 2023, BOE established a permit for every jurisdiction based on the mailing address listed in QVF. Through the end of 2024, these permits could be used, or BOE would reimburse for the use of postage affixed to existing envelope stock. However, starting in 2025, clerks should use the permits for all mail covered in law, as postage on existing stock may not be reimbursable.

If you are a new clerk and do not know about the prepaid postage process, please review the Prepaid Postage Guide and FAQ. All new and existing clerks should review their permit information to ensure the mailing address is correct. If the incorrect address is used on the envelope, mail may not be returned to your office, and USPS may bill these charges direct to you. If the information listed in the Mailing Address or City & Township columns is not correct, your mailing address is not correct, and you must email BOEOperations@Michigan.gov with the subject line: Permit Correction Needed. In the body of the email, include the county, jurisdiction, the incorrect address, and the correct address.

This week we are featuring an article from the U.S. Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division on Solutions for Five Common ADA Access Problems at Polling Places. Now is the time to think of solutions for your polling places that may have or may develop accessibility issues due to Michigan’s hard winters. Set up an appointment for an accessibility review of your polling places with our Ombudsperson for Accessible Elections or one of our many disability partner organizations by emailing ADAVoting@Michigan.gov.

Using the experience of the 2024 election season, many multi-precinct jurisdictions may wish to permanently consolidate precincts or redraw precinct boundary lines to maximize or rebalance voting resources. If your jurisdiction intends to redraw precinct boundary lines, the changes must be approved by your local election commission. Once approved, please send precinct boundary change requests to ElectionData@Michigan.gov, with the subject line: Precinct Boundary Change, and include a brief description of the request and, if necessary, the approved resolution and marked up street index (including maps) with your change request.

Voters affected by a precinct number change must be issued a new voter identification card listing the new precinct number (also called a voter information card). If the precinct boundary change requires a change in polling place for the voter, the new voter identification card will reflect the new polling place. The deadline to notify voters of any change in a polling place is 45 days prior to the first election held after the change has been implemented. For more information, and considerations when adjusting precinct boundary lines, please refer to the new Quick Guide: Precinct Boundary Changes.

New clerks and clerk staff members should sign up for a Michigan Election eLearning Center account. This account will give you access to hundreds of specialized election resources. You can register for required trainings like Clerk Accreditation and Qualified Voter File (QVF) training, and access training  curriculums. The eLearning center is also where you can sign up for the popular in-person and online classes the BOE training team provides throughout the year.

After completing the online request form, submit it to the current jurisdiction clerk for approval. These requests are processed manually and may take two business days to be processed. 

Use the online request form to sign up today!

Security and Standards - Emerging Topics Specialist:  This role is responsible for acting as the Election Administration Emerging Topics Specialist, offering specialized support to the Bureau of Election's (BOE) Security and Standards Section. The specialist provides expert guidance on emerging issues and new solutions needed statewide, as well as at the at the municipal or county level. The incumbent will serve as BOE’s liaison with national, state, county, and local election administration experts, focusing on best practices for Election Day voting, early voting, absentee voting, and county and local election duties.  Additionally, the specialist will identify opportunities to enhance statewide procedures and assist individual jurisdictions with unique or emerging issues that require expert resolution. The posting closes at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 16, 2025.

Filing, Disclosure, and Compliance - Departmental Technician 7-E9: This position is responsible for helping state and local government in many of the essential functions of democracy by performing essential paraprofessional functions at the Bureau of Elections. This position assists staff in accepting and processing statewide proposal, recall, and candidate petitions as well as other documents required to be filed to run for office. This position assists and organizes the petition processing and counting processes and reviews petitions from candidates. This position supports staff with election night reporting, assists county clerks in the completion of the county election results review and coordinates with staff in the state election results review. The position will assist in the development of documents to guide the public in filing appropriate forms and petitions and will process general filings, mailings, payments & reports for the Filing, Disclosure & Compliance Division. The posting closes at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2025. 

Election Administration Division - Executive Secretary E10 This position serves as a Secretary in the Election Administration Division providing administrative support to the Director of the Election Administration Division, Training and Election Assistance Manager, and Security and Standards Section Manager by performing a variety of administrative and executive support tasks which may be highly confidential and sensitive. The position will perform advanced secretarial assignments and serve as a liaison between Division management and staff. This position will coordinate with training staff to secure locations, times, and materials for trainings. The position will research and prepare election calendars for use by Michigan’s 1,604 county and municipal clerks and their staff. This position will work with the various clerk associations to maintain a Bureau-wide calendar of clerk meetings and conferences, and schedule Bureau staff to attend and present at conferences. The position will also support Division analysts by coordinating the printing and copying of training materials, triaging emails, and answering tier 1 email and phone calls. This position will serve as the backup to the Division’s Learning Management System (LMS) analyst for creating eLearning user accounts and updating certain materials in eLearning. The posting closes at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2025.

As announced in prior news updates, the online election official accreditation curriculum is being updated to correspond with the 2024 updates to the accreditation manual. In the meantime, the current material is available for reference. As we advised in previous updates, those using the current online accreditation who have started, but not yet completed the current online accreditation courses must do so by Jan. 10. Otherwise your progress will be lost, and you will need to start over with the new curriculum.

To avoid lost effort and to receive accreditation certification using the most updated material, newly elected or appointed clerks who have not started the accreditation process should wait until mid-January to do so. Those who have partially completed the current version should either complete it by January 10 or wait for the new version and start over. The initial course of election official accreditation is required for all newly elected or appointed clerks and should be completed within six months of taking office.