Bipartisan group asks Legislature for resolution to help clerks get ballots to voters on time

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and a bipartisan group of clerks today called on the state Legislature to pass a joint resolution promising that no new questions will be placed on ballots within 75 days of an election. The current deadline for the Legislature to add ballot questions is 60 days, leaving only 20 subsequent days for numerous processes to take place before the first absentee ballots must be mailed to voters. The 40-day deadline is part of the constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2018.

“The deadlines leading up to elections make it extremely difficult for local, county and state election officials, along with vendors, to ensure that voters can receive absentee ballots in accordance with their constitutional rights,” said Benson. “Although the 60-day deadline and newly created 40-day deadline are both in the Michigan Constitution, the Legislature can take action now to support clerks by adopting a joint resolution promising to put questions on the ballot no later than the 75th day before an election.”