§ 168.766Marked ballot of an absent voter; verification; approval or rejection;

opportunity to cure.
 Sec. 766.
    (1) On receipt of any envelope containing the marked ballot of an absent voter, the city or
 township clerk shall determine whether the ballot is approved for tabulation by verifying both
 of the following:
    (a) The elector is a registered elector and has not voted in person in that election.
    (b) Using the procedures required under section 766a, the signature on the absent voter
 ballot return envelope agrees sufficiently with the elector's signature on file.
    (2) Subject to section 510(8), if the city or township clerk verifies the information in
 subsection (1)(a) and (b), the clerk shall approve the absent voter ballot for tabulation and
 record in the qualified voter file that the absent voter ballot has been approved for tabulation.
 Subject to subsection (3), if the city or township clerk is not able to verify the information in
 subsection (1)(a) and (b), the clerk must reject the absent voter ballot return envelope.
    (3) If a city or township clerk rejects an absent voter ballot return envelope because the
 signature on the absent voter ballot return envelope is missing or does not agree sufficiently
 with the elector's signature on file, the elector must be permitted an opportunity to cure the
 deficiency as provided under section 766a until 5 p.m. on the third day following the election
 in order for the absent voter ballot, if otherwise valid, to be accepted for tabulation.
    (4) If an absent voter ballot return envelope that is eligible to be cured is not cured by the
 close of polls on election day, that absent voter ballot return envelope must be retained at the
 clerk's office, and must not be turned over to the board of election inspectors or to an absent
 voter counting board. An absent voter ballot return envelope that is cured after the close of the
 polls on election day, but before 5 p.m. on the third day following the election, must be


                                                                   Michigan Compiled Laws Complete Through PA 9 of 2026
Rendered Thursday, April 30, 2026             Page 379 of 478                              Courtesy of legislature.mi.gov

 accepted and the ballot tabulated if the elector has not voted in person in that election. An
 absent voter ballot return envelope that is not cured by 5 p.m. on the third day following the
 election remains rejected.
    (5) On receipt of a cure form, as provided under section 766a, that resolves the signature
 deficiency on an elector's absent voter ballot return envelope, the clerk shall approve the ballot
 for tabulation.
    (6) Not later than the sixth day after election day, each city or township clerk shall deliver
 the absent voter ballot return envelopes that have been cured under subsection (4) to the
 county clerk in a ballot container. The absent voter ballots in these cured absent voter ballot
 return envelopes shall be tabulated by the county clerk in a meeting of the board of county
 canvassers.