November Election

City of Plymouth voters who requested absentee ballots should soon see their ballots arriving in their mailboxes for the November 3rd General Election. The Clerk's office delivered absentee ballots to the post office last week for over 3700 absentee ballot applications received as of September 24th.    

Ballots can be voted and returned by mail or hand-delivered to one of the three drop boxes available for the City of Plymouth. The drop box in the City Hall Church St. vestibule is available 24/7, as is the one in the drive-up area at the Plymouth District Library.  There is a third drop box inside City Hall that is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.   Remember to sign your ballot return envelope and seal it with your ballot inside in its secrecy sleeve. The envelope must be signed by the person it was issued to.

One question we've been hearing a lot is the difference is between absentee voting and early voting.

Absentee voting (sometimes called mail-in voting) is requesting an absentee ballot with an application, then receiving your ballot by mail or in the City Clerk's office. You can then return your ballot by mail or drop it off in a clerk's office drop box to be held until Election Day, when it will be tabulated (counted) the same way it is when you vote at the polls on Election Day.

The other term we have started hearing recently is 'early' voting.  This simply means that voters can go to their local clerk's office to request and receive an absentee ballot with a valid application that is signed by the voter, vote their ballot while they are there, and drop it in the drop box to be held until Election Day when it will be tabulated (counted) the same way it is when you vote at the polls on Election Day.  Remember to sign your ballot return envelope and seal it with your ballot inside in its secrecy sleeve.    

When you sign up for our permanent absent voter application list, it is a request to send you an application automatically.  It does not mean that you will automatically be sent a ballot. We still must receive a signed application [with the voter's signature] for every election in order to send a ballot.  

If you would like to register to vote, check your voter registration status, request an absentee ballot, check to see if we've received your application or check to see if we've received your ballot, please visit the State of Michigan Secretary of State's website at  mi.gov/vote.

.   If you prefer to vote in person on Election Day, polls will be open November 3 at 7:00 a.m.

Have other election questions? The Michigan Secretary of State's website is a great resource.