This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.
Several Michigan clerks missed the deadline to mail absentee ballots, despite state laws that require them to be sent to voters at least 40 days before the election — which, for the 2026 midterms, was Sept. 24.
As of Tuesday, voters in Antrim and Presque Isle counties are still waiting on their ballots, officials in both counties confirmed. A number of other communities also missed the deadline but have since gotten their ballots mailed. Waterford Township and Grayling, for example, mailed their ballots Sept. 25, while Farmington Hills, Commerce Township, Chocolay Township, and Klacking Township had ballots available for pickup by the deadline but did not begin mailing them until this week.
In Michigan, counties are in charge of getting ballots printed and distributing them to municipal clerks, who then work with their staffs to get the ballots into the hands of voters.
It’s not unheard of for counties to miss the 40-day deadline, state officials said. Typically, there is no penalty if counties have a plan in place to get ballots to voters as soon as possible.
Antrim County Deputy Clerk Annette Marcus told Votebeat on Monday that her county started getting ballots to municipal clerks on Tuesday, then the clerks will send them out to voters. In Presque Isle County’s Ocqueoc Township, Clerk Pamela Shaedig said Tuesday that she expected to receive her ballots Wednesday.
Those with outstanding ballots blamed printers and the tight deadlines to turn ballots around. There are a limited number of print companies approved to produce ballots for Michigan’s elections, and all clerks typically send their final orders within a relatively short window.
“I don’t know how, honestly, to get it out any faster,” Marcus said.
She said it would be helpful if the August primary, in which candidates for partisan races are selected for the November ballot, were held earlier. Antrim County finalized its primary results only about a week before Marcus was preparing to send ballots to the printer, she said.
The state legislature would have to approve moving the primary date. It has been considered in the past, but the Senate and House have been unable to agree on a new date.
Other election officials agreed the 40-day deadline is “hard to meet,” in the words of Trena Somers, the Alcona County deputy clerk.
“Everybody works real hard to make it happen, and it’s just a hurry. We always rush, no matter how prepared we are, and it’s frustrating, but that’s just part of the gig, I guess.”SAM GEDMAN | Grand Traverse County clerk
In Grand Traverse County, Clerk Sam Gedman said his ballots came in from the printers on Sept. 23. His team was able to get them to municipal clerks in time for them to make the state deadline, but “it was stressful,” he said.
“We’re fortunate to be able to get them out by the deadline,” he said. “Everybody works real hard to make it happen, and it’s just a hurry. We always rush, no matter how prepared we are, and it’s frustrating, but that’s just part of the gig, I guess.”
Jennifer Morrell, CEO and co-founder of The Elections Group, noted that the popularity of absentee voting in Michigan is a new phenomenon compared with most other states with mail voting options. Michigan’s no-excuse absentee voting system as it currently exists only came into effect after voters approved it via constitutional amendment in 2018. It skyrocketed in popularity particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now more than 1.9 million voters are on the state’s permanent mail ballot list.
It makes sense, Morrell said, that there are still some hiccups to work through — particularly when compared to states that have voted primarily by mail for years, like a number of Western states. Those states have more experience, but the lessons they have learned could be useful to officials in Michigan.
“If I were advising counties… I would want to see their absentee ballot production plan,” said Morrell, who has served as an elections official in both Colorado and Utah. “What tasks are being done? Who’s doing them, and by what date? If you don’t have a plan, well, there you go. That’s where you start.”
Having dedicated plans won’t eliminate every problem, she said, but it can help. For example, it can show officials when vendors may be overpromising or where in-house inefficiencies are wasting time.
Sometimes, though, the factors that delay ballots are completely out of a clerk’s control. Hamlin Township, in Mason County, was set to meet the state’s deadline but is getting its ballots reprinted after the death of a trustee who was facing recall, according to a notice from the township. Reprinted Hamlin ballots will be mailed starting Oct. 1.
Clerks who missed the state’s deadline were instructed to notify voters, and many did through social media and township pages. The majority, though, appeared to have gotten their ballots into the hands of voters on time.
The work is hard, but getting absentee ballots on time “is a commitment we make to the voters,” Gedman said. “We don’t want to break that.”
Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.
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