Michigan voters are encouraged to register as early as possible before an election. Methods and requirements for voter registration depend on the following deadlines:
If there are 15+ days before an election, voters can register online, by mail, or in person.
Within 14 days of an election, and on Election Day, voters may only register by visiting their local clerk’s office to register in person with proof of residency documentation.
Voters can check their voter registration status and look up their local clerk information at Michigan.gov/Vote.
To register to vote in Michigan, an individual must:
☑ Be a Michigan resident
☑ Be a United States citizen
☑ Be at least 17.5 years of age (and 18 by Election Day)
☑ Not be currently serving a sentence in jail or prison
Check your voter registration status
Voters can check their voter registration status and make sure their information is up to date at Michigan.gov/Vote or by calling or visiting their city or township clerk. Find your local clerk information at Michigan.gov/Vote.
Welcome to Michigan! New residents can register to vote and must be a resident of their city or township for at least 30 days by Election Day.
In general, voters do not need a photo ID to register to vote, however, some first-time registrants who register to vote by mail may need to provide some form of ID.
For more information, visit our first-time voters page.
Military and overseas voters who are Michigan residents can register to vote. Please visit the military and veterans voter page for more information.
Yes, students attending a college or university in Michigan can register to vote in Michigan. Michiganders attending a college or university outside of Michigan can also register to vote in Michigan. Please visit the student voter page for more information.
Yes, returning citizens and individuals with a felony or misdemeanor conviction can register to vote in Michigan as long as they are not actively serving a sentence in jail or prison.
Methods and requirements for voter registration depend on the following deadlines:
If there are 15+ days before an election, voters can register online, by mail, or in person.
Within 14 days of an election, and on Election Day, voters may only register by visiting their local clerk’s office to register in person with proof of residency documentation.
*Within 14 days of an election, voters must register to vote in person at a clerk’s office or satellite office and present proof of residency documentation.
Requirements:
How to register: A voter registration application may be requested in person at a local clerk’s office or a satellite clerk’s office location. The application may be completed on-site and submitted or taken home and submitted later.
Deadline: Applications must be received by, or postmarked as sent to a local clerk's office at least 15 days before Election Day at in order to be processed in time for the next election. Within 14 days of an election, voters must submit a voter registration application in person and present proof of residency at their local clerk’s office. Learn more about proof of residency.
Voters have until 8:00 p.m. on Election Day to register to vote in person at their local clerk’s office.
Requirements:
How to register: Visit Michigan.gov/Vote to complete and submit an online application.
Deadline: Voters may register to vote online 15 or more days prior to Election Day.
Within 14 days of an election, voters must register in person and present proof of residency at their local clerk’s office.
Requirements:
How to register: Printable applications are available online. Voters may also pick up an application at their local clerk's office or request that one be mailed to them. Completed applications can be mailed or scanned and emailed to the local clerk.
Deadline: Mailed or scanned and emailed applications should be mailed to a local clerk 15 or more days before Election Day. Mailed registration applications must be postmarked as sent at least 15 days before Election Day and received by 8 p.m. on Election Day
Within 14 days of an election, voters must register in person and present proof of residency at their local clerk’s office.
Para obtener información sobre el registro de votantes, visite Michigan.gov/SOSEspanol
Michigan.gov/SOSArabic للحصول على معلومات تسجيل الناخبين باللغة العربية، قم بزيارة الموقع
ভোটার নিবন্ধনের তথ্য বাংলায় পেতে, ভিজিট করুন এই ঠিকানায় Michigan.gov/SOSBangla
For all other languages, visit Michigan.gov/SOSLanguages
Proof of residency is official documentation (paper or digital) that lists a voter’s current name and address. When registering to vote within 14 days of an election, voters must present two forms of proof of residency in person at a local clerk’s office.
Proof of residency examples include: |
Proof of residency DOES NOT include: |
|---|---|
|
✓ Michigan driver’s license, state ID, or U.S. Passport ✓ A utility bill ✓ Insurance documents (health, car, home, etc.) ✓ A bank or credit card statement ✓ Financial aid or school enrollment documents ✓ A lease agreement ✓ A paycheck or other government check ✓ Other government document |
✖ A package, parcel, or magazine received by mail ✖ A business card ✖ A club or membership card |
Upon receipt of an eligible voter’s registration application, clerks will process the application and the applicant’s name will be added to the Qualified Voter File, the official list of registered voters in Michigan. The applicant will then be sent a voter information card. This card contains useful information for voters but is not required to vote.
Voters who have registered to vote on Election Day have the following options to cast a ballot:
So long as an eligible, unregistered resident is in line at their clerk’s office by 8 p.m., they may register to vote and cast an absentee ballot. Similarly, if a newly registered voter is in line to vote at a polling place by 8 p.m., they may cast a ballot.
Voters who have moved to a new address in Michigan should update their voter registration address. To do this, voters must “re-register” using updated information by selecting one of the registration options listed in this section. Deadlines for voter registration also apply to individuals updating their voter registration.
As part of the Michigan’s automatic voter registration law, when a registered voter updates their voter registration address, the voter’s driver’s license or state ID address is also updated.
Voters who have moved out of state and wish to cancel their registration can make a written request to their city or township clerk that their registration record be cancelled.
A satellite office is an office that offers services at an alternate location to the main clerk’s office, run by a local clerk and their staff. Satellite offices expand access to voter information and resources locally in communities across Michigan.
Satellite offices are typically located in densely populated areas or on university campuses. Opening a satellite office is left to the discretion of local clerks, and open hours of a satellite office may differ from the hours of the main clerk’s office.
Voters may contact their local clerk or look up their voter information online to learn if their jurisdiction offers a satellite office.
Updating voter registration information is necessary when an eligible voter has:
To update voter registration, voters must “re-register” using updated information. Please view the voter registration section for options on how to register. Deadlines for voter registration also apply to individuals updating their voter registration.
As part of the Michigan’s automatic voter registration law, when a registered voter updates their voter registration address, the voter’s driver’s license or state ID address is also updated.
Cancellation of voter registration usually occurs when:
Voters who wish to cancel their registrations can make a written request to their city or township clerk that their registration record be cancelled.
If a voter receives a notice of cancellation in the mail for their own voter registration, they can respond to the notification by mail or online in the following ways:
If an individual’s registration has been cancelled but they still want to vote in Michigan, they will need to re-register using by selecting one of the registration options listed in the voter registration section. Deadlines for voter registration also apply to individuals updating their voter registration.
Michigan receives information from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a bipartisan group of states and Washington, DC, who share voter registration data with each other for the purpose of keeping voter rolls complete, up to date, and accurate.
When Michigan receives information through the ERIC program that a voter has registered in another state more recently than their activity in Michigan, the Bureau of Elections uses this as initial information that the voter may have moved. The Bureau sends a notice of cancellation to the voter’s address in Michigan.
If the voter does not have any voting activity in Michigan by the second even-year federal election following the notice, the voter's Michigan voter registration is cancelled. After the notice is sent, the voter is marked inactive and can still vote until the cancellation occurs.
When someone dies, their death record information is sent to the Social Security Administration and added to the Master Death Index. Based on listings of deceased individuals from the Social Security Administration and in the Master Death Index Report, the Michigan Department of State cancels the matching voter registrations.
County clerks also inform city or township clerks when they process death records for an individual registered to vote in that city or township. Although the vast majority of these deceased individuals are also identified through the Master Death Index, county clerks quite often can inform municipal clerks before notice arrives from the Michigan Department of State. This is useful in the days leading up to elections, to allow the registrations of voters who become deceased to be cancelled more quickly.
City or Township clerks can also cancel registrations when they have personal knowledge and official documentation that a registered voter has died. For example, the city or township clerk may have an obituary, local death notice, or a written notification from next of kin.
Michigan also receives information from the ERIC program about Michigan voters who have died.
There are additional inactive registrations in the registered voter database, the Qualified Voter File (QVF), for voters who may have died or moved, but for whom death or residency information was never received by election officials. If an election official receives returned undeliverable mail for these individuals, the registration will be cancelled two federal election cycles after the notification is sent unless the voter responds or has voting activity.
Michigan’s list of registered voters is maintained on the Qualified Voter File, a database developed by the state of Michigan and maintained by municipal and county clerks and the Bureau of Elections. The Qualified Voter File contains the names of all individuals registered to vote in Michigan. It also contains the names of individuals with cancelled registrations, who are no longer eligible to vote in Michigan. The Qualified Voter File is constantly updated whenever a new voter registers, a voter updates his or her registration information (such as an address), or a voter’s registration is cancelled.
Voter registrations are cancelled primarily for one of four reasons:
Learn more about voter registration procedures
Voter registration statistics, including a list of registered voters by county and the total number of inactive voter registrations to be cancelled in future years, are available at the following link.
Michigan encourages residents to engage in civic activities, like running a voter registration drive! There are no complex state regulations, or testing and training requirements to organize a voter registration drive.
View more information on running a voter registration drive in the following section or contact a local clerk’s office for more details.
In Michigan, there is no age, citizenship or residency requirement to run or assist with a voter registration drive.
Voter registration drives may not compensate individuals registering persons to vote based on the total number of persons registered, or the total number of persons registered to vote in a particular political party. Violation of this provision of Michigan law is a felony.
Voter registration drives may not compensate individuals or provide any incentive considered “payment” for registering to vote or for voting. Violation of this provision of Michigan law is a felony.
Individuals registering persons to vote may not fill in any missing or incomplete information on a registration form themselves.
There are a few formats for registering voters during a drive, as listed in the Registering to Vote section. The most popular methods for voter registration drives are printed voter registration applications and online voter registration.
Printed applications are available in several languages, as well as a large print option. Individuals registering persons to vote may not fill in any missing or incomplete information on a registration form themselves. All completed applications must be received by a local clerk’s office at least 15 days prior to Election Day. Be sure to look up a voter’s address to ensure the application is sent to the correct clerk’s office.
For more tips on running a successful voter registration drive, check out these nonpartisan voter registration drive guides:
Organizations interested in registering voters using a customized registration form directly on their website may wish to set up an application programming interface (API). Groups with electronic voter registration programs can now securely connect to the online voter registration system through an API, which allows data to be transferred securely.
Organizations may also set up a unique URL linking to the state’s online voter registration application. This unique URL will allow organizations to track the number of registrations made through the link.
Organizations interested in using the API to register voters through the state’s online voter registration portal can do so after completing a security review and working to ensure compatibility with the state’s platform. Those unable to use the API can instead obtain a unique URL to share with those registering to direct them to Michigan’s online voter registration website.
For more information about the API process, please email Elections@Michigan.gov.
