GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Millions of people will be headed to the polls Tuesday to vote in this year's midterm elections.
If you want to avoid the long lines, there’s still a way to do that. You have until Monday, Nov. 7 to get an absentee ballot. You must go to your local clerk’s office and request one in person.
It’s also too late to send your absentee ballot in the mail. Your best bet is to hand deliver the ballot to the clerk’s office or drop it in your jurisdiction's drop box.
You have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to return your absentee ballot.
It’s very important that you sign the absentee ballot envelope. That’s how election officials verify your signature.
Lisa Posthumus Lyons, the Kent County Clerk, says it’s important that you do not sign an absentee ballot application or ballot envelope if it does not belong to you. Doing so is illegal.
"If the signature is missing, if it does not match that vote, that ballot is rejected and does not count," Posthumus Lyons said. "Now I can say on every clerk, I know the clerks that we have here go to great efforts if there's a signature missing or if there's some signature that doesn't match, they'll go to great efforts to contact that voter and hope to rectify that, let the voter come in in person, you know, show their ID and sign the back of the ballot."
But what happens if something happens to your absentee ballot?
“If you don't have it, if you've lost it, if it got thrown away, you can still go to the polling location and request that you vote in person. And what will happen is they'll be able to check and make sure that that absentee ballot that you were issued was not turned in and is not being processed," said Posthumus Lyons. "And that's an important check that we have to make sure that a voter isn't either inadvertently or purposefully trying to vote twice.”
Election officials in some cities will begin processing ballots before Election Day, but they won't start counting absentee ballots until polls open.
For voters who submitted their ballots already, you can track your ballot progress online.
Helpful links for Nov. 8 midterm election
- Click here to find out what is on your ballot.
- Click here to find out if you are registered to vote.
- Click here to find out how to register to vote.
- Click here to find your polling place.
- Click here to find out where to drop off your absentee ballot.
- Click here to find more helpful links.
You can register to vote on Election Day at your clerk's office with proof of residency until 8 p.m.
You have until 8 p.m. on Nov. 8 to return your absentee ballot to your designated drop box or local clerk’s office by hand.
Stay with 13 ON YOUR SIDE on Election Day for results, commentary and interviews with candidates.
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