Election Day 2024 is 628 days away — but as of today, GOTV is now underway in one of the most important states in the nation.
Last fall, Michigan voters overwhelmingly passed Proposal 22-2, which enshrined voting rights into the state constitution. There are a lot of good things about the proposal:
The constitutional amendment protects the fundamental right to vote, and prohibits activities including the passage of laws that interfere with or burden that right.
The amendment also:
- adds the right to nine days of in-person voting
- requires military or overseas ballots to be counted if postmarked by Election Day
- allow voters to use either a valid ID or a sworn affidavit in order to vote by a regular, as opposed to provisional, ballot
- the right to state pre-paid return postage on absentee ballots
- requires access to at least one state-funded ballot drop box per municipality, or one for every 15,000 registered voters
But one of the most important provisions of Proposal 22-2 is one that could have long-lasting benefits for voter turnout.
How long-lasting? Decades. Perhaps into the 22nd century.
Until now, a voter had to apply for an absentee ballot before each election. A voter could request an absentee ballot for a primary election as well as the subsequent general election, but otherwise, they’d have to keep applying.
With Proposal 22-2, Michigan voters no longer need to re-apply to vote absentee before each election. By checking a box on an absentee ballot application, a voter can enroll to receive a ballot for all future elections in which they are qualified to vote.
A voter will continue to receive ballots for all elections until they either rescind their request to receive absentee ballots; are no longer qualified to vote (for example, due to death); move out of state; or do not vote for six consecutive years.
Under Michigan law, most elections can only happen on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of either May, August, or November. (Exceptions include presidential primaries and special-election primaries.) That means the next election date in the Great Lakes State is Tuesday, May 2; that’s when some school districts, cities, and townships are conducting elections for local proposals such as bonds, millages, and charter amendments.
Michigan law allows voters to request an absentee ballot 75 days ahead of Election Day. As of today, we’re 75 days away from the May 2 election. That means that starting today, voters in precincts with a May election can request an absentee ballot right now for that election — and for all future elections in which they can vote.
Today is just the latest in a series of milestones marking Michigan’s shift from laggard to leader on voting rights, access, and redistricting. This shift has been led by groups like Promote the Vote, Voters Not Politicians, and their coalition partners, volunteers, and donors. Thanks to them, hundreds of thousands of Michigan voters signed petitions to get voting-rights proposals on the 2018 and 2022 ballots — each of which were approved by over 2.5 million voters.