Absentee Voting

Absent Voter Information

Due to recent legislation passed in November 2018 any registered voter may now request an absent voter ballot without having to provide a reason. A signed application is still required for all elections in order to receive a ballot. Voters can obtain an application by contacting the City Clerk’s office or by downloading an application from the City’s website once available.

Absentee Voter Application for a specific election will be listed when available.

If you would like to be added to the Automatic Application List to receive Absentee Voter's Ballot applications for every election, please call the Farmington City Clerk’s office at (248) 474-5500 or email us at farmingtonclerk@farmgov.com. Please include your name, Farmington address, and a contact number. Even if you choose to put your name on the list, you still have the option to vote at the polls by not returning the AV Ballot application. 

Absent voter ballot applications are mailed out by the City Clerk’s office approximately two months prior to an election.

All voters who receive an AV ballot in person at the clerk’s office must present a photo ID or sign an affidavit. If the voter signs the affidavit, his/her AV ballot must be prepared as a challenged ballot.

Requesting an absent voter ballot if you are registered to vote at your current address

If you are registered to vote at your current address, your request for an absent voter ballot must be in writing and can be submitted to your city or township clerk. (For assistance in obtaining the address of your city or township clerk, see Michigan.gov/Vote) You may request an absent voter ballot through the mail by mailing the PDFapplication, PDFlarge print application, a letter, a postcard or a pre-printed application form obtained from your local clerk's office. Requests to have an absent voter ballot mailed to you must be received by your clerk no later than 5 p.m. the Friday before the election.

You also may request an absent voter ballot in person at a city or township clerk's office until 4 p.m. on the Monday before an election. If you request an absent voter ballot on Monday, you must vote it in person at the clerk's office.

Once your request is received by the local clerk, your signature on the request will be checked against your voter registration record before a ballot is issued.

You must be a registered voter to receive an absent voter ballot (but you can register and request an absent voter ballot at the same time - see below). Requests for absent voter ballots are processed immediately. Absent voter ballots may be issued to you at your home address or any address outside of your city or township of residence.

After receiving your absent voter ballot, you have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to complete the ballot and return it to the clerk's office. Your ballot won't be counted unless your signature is on the return envelope and matches your signature on file. If you received assistance voting the ballot, then the signature of the person who helped you also must be on the return envelope. Only you, a family member or person residing in your household, a mail carrier or election official is authorized to deliver your signed absent voter ballot to your clerk's office.

If an emergency, such as a sudden illness or family death prevents you from reaching the polls on Election Day, you may request an emergency absent voter ballot. Requests for an emergency ballot must be submitted after the deadline for regular absent voter ballots has passed but before 4 p.m. on Election Day. The emergency must have occurred at a time that made it impossible for you to apply for a regular absent voter ballot. Please contact Meaghan Bachman, Farmington City Clerk for more information about emergency absent voter ballots.

Spoiling your an absent voter ballot

In the event you need to spoil your absent voter ballot you will need to complete an Affidavit of Absent Voter form, linked PDFhere, and submit to the Clerk's office prior to being issued a new ballot. Possible reasons for spoiling an absent voter ballot include: lost, damaged, or not received by the voter through U.S. mail, inaccurately marking your ballot prior to election day, etc.

Requesting an absent voter ballot at the same time as registering to vote

You may request an absent voter ballot at the same time as registering to vote. If you register on the Monday before an election and request an absent voter ballot at the same time, you must vote it at the clerk's office. If you register on Election Day, you may either request an absent voter ballot and vote it at the clerk's office, or instead of requesting an absent voter ballot you may go to the precinct and vote.

Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE)

Are you in communication with military or overseas civilian voters who are eligible to register and vote in Michigan? If so, we encourage you to inform them that new state and federal laws make it easier for military and overseas civilian voters to register and participate in elections. Most importantly, military and overseas civilian voters can now receive a ballot by email or fax to speed the voting process! The voted ballot must be returned by mail for security purposes. 

Military and Overseas voters can follow the link PDFhere to print off their application, and they can return it to us at farmingtonclerk@farmgov.com.