Nearly 30% of Michigan’s voters turned in their ballots by mail or at a dropbox this election. Sometimes, those ballots get rejected.
Absentee ballot rejections were pretty rare in the last two general elections. There are a few issues that can cause rejections, like ballots being turned in late or voters moving after turning a ballot in. Rejections are usually too few to make a difference in statewide presidential or Senate races.
For hundreds of voters in 2016 and 2020, the rejection was caused by an issue with their signature. The number of signature rejections in the November 2024 general election is not yet known. But there’s still a chance for those rejected ballots to get counted — and make an impact in local races.
What signature?
There’s a spot on the envelope that is supposed to be turned in with a mail ballot where voters have to sign their name.
That signature is a key part of how election officials check that a ballot was actually submitted by the right person.
Ballots get rejected if a voter forgot to add the signature or if officials decide the signature didn’t match the one on file (from a driver's license or voter registration paperwork).
Here’s what voters need to know about signature rejections:
- Voters who get their absentee ballot rejected because of a missing or mismatched signature get notified of the rejection by mail or email.
- Sign up for email ballot notifications on the state’s website.
- Voters get a chance to “cure” their ballot after the election and make their votes count.
- The 2024 general election deadline to turn in the Absent Voter Ballot Signature Cure Form is 5 p.m. on Friday, November 8.
- The form can be submitted to the voter's local clerk in person, by mail or by email.
- Voters can find their clerk on the state’s website.
- Basic information can be typed in, but voters must sign the form “in ink.”
- Need a place to print and scan the form to email it? Local libraries might be able to help. Find one here.
- Clerks then decide if the signature on the form is close enough to the one in the voter’s file. If it is, they accept the ballot and the vote gets counted.
- Falsifying information on a cure form is perjury, a felony.
How do I know if my ballot got rejected because of a signature problem?
Chances are, it didn’t get rejected. Less than 1% of Michigan’s absentee ballots in the 2020 and 2022 presidential elections were rejected for a missing or mismatched signature.
Local clerks are supposed to notify voters if their ballot was rejected. That notification can happen by mail, but voters can also sign up to receive email notifications by going to the state’s website.
The election is over. Can I still make my vote count after a signature rejection?
Yes. Voters get up to three days after the election to “cure” their rejected ballots. In the 2024 general election, the deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, November 8.
How do I cure my rejected ballot?
The Secretary of State has an Absent Voter Ballot Signature Cure Form on its website. To use the form, voters have to input their name, address and birthday. Then they sign to affirm that they are a registered voter and that they turned in a ballot this election.
Clerks then decide if the signature on the form is close enough to the voter’s file. If it is, they accept the ballot and the vote gets counted. Falsifying information on a cure form is perjury.
There is a checkbox for voters whose signatures have changed since they last signed for an ID or voter registration because of a medical condition or age.
The form can be submitted to the voter's local clerk in person, by mail or by email. Voters can find their clerk’s contact information and address on the state’s website. The form has to reach the clerk by the deadline three days after the election.
The name, address, and birthday sections of the form can be filled out by typing on a computer. But the signature must be “in ink.”
Need a place to print and scan the form to email it? Local libraries might be able to help. Find one here.
