All registered voters are eligible to receive an absentee ballot!
The City of Traverse City has mailed Absentee Ballot Applications to City electors for the upcoming elections held in the City of Traverse City on August 2, 2022 and November 8, 2022. Due to the passage of the statewide ballot proposal 18-3, all eligible and registered voters in Michigan may now request an absentee ballot without providing a reason. However, an Absentee Ballot Application must be submitted to receive an absentee ballot.
To receive an absentee ballot for a given election, please visit the online portal for requesting an absentee ballot at www.michigan.gov/vote or complete the Absentee Ballot Application.
Absentee Ballot Applications must be returned the City Clerk's Office:
Mail or In Person or Drop Box
City Clerk's Office
400 Boardman Avenue
Traverse City, MI 49684
Email
Simply snap a photo of your completed Absentee Voter Application and email tcclerk@traversecitymi.gov
How do I track the status of my absentee ballot?
What happens after you've completed an application for absentee ballot?
The City Clerk's Office will verify your signature utilizing a system called the Michigan Qualified Voter File. Then, if the signature is able to be verified, the City Clerk's Office will mail you a ballot to your registered address, unless another address is notated. If you bring your application to the City Clerk's Office in person identity verification will take place immediately and a ballot may be issued to you immediately.
Once your ballot is complete, simply place it back in the green and white envelope it came from, seal it, and sign it and return it to our office. Ballots can be returned utilizing a number of methods; you can mail is via first class mail, you can hand deliver it, or you can place it in the red drop box in front of the Governmental Center near the USPS mail receptacle. The red drop box is checked daily and on election day, checked many times throughout the day.
How do I get placed on the Permanent AV List?
If you would like to simply receive an application for absentee ballot prior to each election, please complete the Permanent AV Request Form and return it to the City Clerk's Office at the above mentioned address.
Are you an active-duty member of the Armed Forces, Merchant Marine, Public Health Service, NOAA, or a United States citizen living outside of the U.S. for work, school or other reason?
Request an absentee ballot utilizing the Federal Voting Assistance Program and have a ballot emailed to you! For more details, visit our Military and Overseas Voter Page.
Persons who can legally be in possession of an absent voter ballot issued to an absent voter are limited to the absent voter; a person who is a member of the absent voter's household and who has been asked by the absent voter to return the ballot; a person whose job it is to handle mail before, during, or after being transported by a public postal service, express mail service, parcel post services, or common carrier, but only during the normal course of his or her employment; and the Clerk, assistants of the Clerk, and other authorized election officials of the City, Township, Village or school district. Any other person in possession of an absent voter ballot is guilty of a FELONY. PURSUANT TO STATE LAW, A FRIEND WHO DOES NOT LIVE WITH YOU OR NEIGHBOR MAY NO LONGER RETURN YOUR ABSENT VOTER BALLOT FOR YOU.