For specific information on registering to vote for the Statewide Primary Election on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, please visit our webpage on Voting & Elections.
Why Voter Registration Matters
Every eligible voter should have a fair and equal opportunity to register to vote and to cast their ballot. Millions of Americans miss the opportunity to vote because they don’t know how to register or update their registration status.
Watch this video from Jonathan Brater, Director of the Michigan Bureau of Elections, who provides an excellent overview of voter registration in our state.
What We Do
As the nation’s largest and longest-standing grassroots voter registration organization, our volunteers register voters and host community voter registration drives throughout our communities (Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park) each year. We concentrate our registration drives at locations that reach large numbers of unregistered voters, including high schools, community colleges, and naturalization ceremonies. We also help thousands of Americans register to vote online at VOTE411.org.
We do this to ensure all eligible Americans — especially first-time voters, non-college youth, new citizens, communities of color, and low-income Americans — have the opportunity to register and then exercise their right to vote. Read on for information on voter registration, or visit MichiganVoting.org.
We continue to strengthen democracy through voter registration and voter education…even during the novel coronavirus pandemic⏤
LWV Detroit Voter Registration Drives in the Community:
- High Schools for students 18 years of age (teachers + staff, too)
- Naturalization ceremonies
- Shelters for the homeless, such as COTS
- University and community college campuses in Wayne County
- Apartment complexes for people with limited mobility, seniors, and low-income individuals
- Community events
Voter Registration Info
Before you can vote in Michigan, you must register. Voters can register to vote (or update their registration) up through Election Day, but it’s much easier to do so at least 15 days in advance.
Voter registration eligibility:
- Resident of Michigan in your city or township for at least 30 days before Election Day
- United States citizen
- Not currently serving a sentence in jail or prison
- At least 18 years old (by Election Day)
You can register to vote as long as you are 17 1/2 years of age, but you cannot vote until you are 18.
You can register to vote through Election Day
Citizens who are not yet registered but wish to register and vote in the May 7 election may do so at their local Clerk’s office until 8 pm on Election Day. Find your Clerk’s contact information here: Michigan.gov/Vote.
Note: Proof of residency must be provided if registering within two weeks of an election. Acceptable documents include a driver’s license, state ID card, current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other government document. Documents must have your name and current address. Digital copies are acceptable.
A voter has many ways to register to vote:
- Online at michigan.gov/voterregistration
- Through the mail (download the voter registration form or ask your local Clerk to send you one)
- During a Secretary of State transaction (If you’re there for a driver’s license or state ID card transaction, you’ll automatically be registered to vote unless you say no.)
- Your County Clerk’s office
- Your local city or township Clerk’s office
- Public assistance offices, such as the Department of Health and Human Services
- During a League of Women Voters voter registration drive.
You can also update your voter registration using any of the above methods. Online voter registration may be the easiest option if you have a Michigan driver’s license or state ID.
You can also use the Federal mail-in voter registration form, or if you are overseas, the federal postcard application.
Instead of mailing your voter registration form, you can ask someone to deliver it to the clerk for you. For example, it can be given to a League member who is conducting a voter registration drive.
The deadline to register to vote and be able to vote in an upcoming election is 15 days before the election, if you are registering to vote using any method other than in-person with your local Clerk. For voter registration by mail, that means postmarked by the 15th day. Once you get within 14 days of an election (including Election Day), you can stil register to vote; but you have to do it in person with your local Clerk.
Once you get within 14 days of an election, you’ll also have to proivde a document vertifying your residency. Electronic documents are acceptable.
Acceptable documents for voter registration must have your current address:
- Driver’s license
- State ID
- Government, college, or university document
- Utility bill
Those registered to vote where they live must vote at their assigned polling place. Those not registered to vote where they live can visit their local clerk’s office with proof of residency by 8 pm on Election Day, and once registered to vote where they live, they can vote by absentee ballot in their clerk’s office.
Not sure if you’re registered to vote? Have you recently moved, changed your name, or had your voting rights restored? Get help using the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) non-partisan voting assistance website, CanIVote.org.
NOTE: Due to Michigan’s recent redistricting process, some voters may have new precincts or polling locations. Visit MI.gov/vote or call the nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) for confirmation.
Thousands of organizations, companies, celebrities, and everyday Americans across the country are spreading the word about the importance of checking your voter registration—and a record-breaking nearly 600 League partners nationwide are joining them.
National Voter Registration Month
In 2002, Secretaries of State established September as National Voter Registration Month to encourage voter participation and increase awareness of state requirements and deadlines for voting.
Led by a coalition of voter advocacy and nonprofit groups, National Voter Registration Day takes place this year on September 17, 2024.