SOS - October 11, 2006 (Issue 255)

Important Information Regarding Voter Information Center Weblinks: As we have reported in the past, the Department of State terminated its contract with Publius.org when we created the new Michigan Voter Information Center website. While Publius.org maintains a similar site, we have no control over its content or the accuracy of the information. Please make sure that all links that formerly referenced the Publius site are changed to reference www.michigan.gov/vote.

It has also been brought to our attention that some of the URLs maintained by Publius.org may have been compromised. In addition, we have unconfirmed reports that some URLs formerly maintained by Publius or the State now sometimes direct individuals to inappropriate sites. Since the State of Michigan does not own these URLs, we are unable to control where users visiting these links are redirected.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Bureau of Elections at 1-800-292-5973 if you have any questions.

VOTER MOVED OUT OF STATE ? Inbox Notification: As you may have noticed from your QVF inbox on October 9, the Department of State ran a quarterly purge this past weekend resulting in the cancellation of deceased voters and voters who have moved out of state. Page 2-9 of your ?Qualified Voter File Desktop Reference" addresses the actions that should be taken whenever you receive notification that a voter has moved to an address that is outside of the State of Michigan. The QVF software automatically changes the voter's status to ?Canceled." The required clerk actions are as follows: 1) record the cancellation to the voter's Master Card along with the date and reason for the cancellation: ?Voter Moved Out of State ? ?30-Day Cancellation Notice' Sent," 2) Send a ?30-Day Confirmation/Cancellation Notice" to the voter (see attached sample), and 3) Change the QVF voter status to ?Active" if the response indicates that the move is temporary and the voter wishes to remain registered. Return the Master Card to the Active File and note the date and cause as ?Temporary Move." It is of particular importance that you follow these procedures immediately to ensure that no voters are erroneously omitted from precinct lists.

The above procedures are necessary to ensure that ?snow birds" and others that may be temporarily away are not canceled in error.

Please feel free to direct any questions that you may have regarding these procedures to the Bureau of Elections at 1-800-292-5973.

30-Day Out of State Cancellation Notice" to the voter: (click here to see a sample)