Here’s how to get an absentee ballot for Michigan’s Aug. 6 primary election

Want to vote in Michigan’s August primary election, but won’t be in town? Want to spend some time with your ballot at home? Or you remembered it’s hot and humid in Michigan in August, and you don’t want to step outside your house?

Good news: You can instead vote with an absentee ballot by mail or in person at your local election clerk’s office.

In Michigan, you don’t need a reason to request an absentee ballot. The state is one of 28 with what is called “no-excuse” absentee voting, which is pretty much what it sounds like: You don’t need a specific reason to ask for an absentee ballot.

Registered voters who have already completed applications to receive an absentee ballot for the upcoming Aug. 6 primary should start receiving their ballots in the mail this week.

Here’s how to vote absentee from home, vacation or in-person at your clerk’s office:

How I can request a Michigan absentee ballot?

The simplest way to get an absentee ballot in Michigan is to request one online through the Secretary of State’s office at mvic.sos.state.mi.us/AVApplication.

To fill out that form, confirm your citizenship and authorize the Secretary of State’s office to send your digital signature (stored from your state ID or driver’s license) to your city or town. Fill out your info, matching it exactly to your driver’s license. From there, confirm your address and which elections you’d like a ballot for — there’s an election in August as well as in November. Here, you can confirm you want to join the “permanent ballot list,” which means you’ll automatically get an absentee ballot application in each election. Confirm your address, add your personal contact information, then submit. The process takes however long it takes you to fish out your driver’s license plus maybe two minutes.

It’s best to do this at least 15 days before an election to give your local clerk enough time to send you your ballot and to give yourself enough time to return it. Online applications can be submitted as late as 5 p.m. as the Friday before the election, but that might be cutting it close.

For the Aug. 6 election, absentee ballots come available June 27.

I don’t want to request my ballot online.

There are other options as well. You can request one by mail. Fill out the application found at michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting/voters in whatever language is best for you (options include Arabic, Bengali, Farsi, Spanish, English and large-print English, as well as an accessible electronic application). Mail it in following the directions on the application or take it to your city, village or township clerk’s office in person.

It’s important you give your application enough time to arrive. They are due to your clerk’s office by 5 p.m. the Friday before the election (Aug. 2 for this upcoming primary). They can be returned by mail or in person, but the deadline is the same.

If you’re cutting it a little close or don’t want to use the mail, you can request your ballot in person at your clerk’s office. (If you’ve recently moved or you’re not otherwise registered, you can also do this at clerk’s office.) You can find your closest clerk by putting in your address at mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Voter/Index/#yourclerk.

How do I fill out an absentee ballot in Michigan?

The actual candidates and issues you choose are up to you, of course. But it’s important you follow some specific requirements so that your vote doesn’t get thrown out.

There will be written instructions included with your ballot. If you have questions, you can reach out to your local clerk.

After that, make sure you put it in the secrecy sleeve which will come included with your ballot, and then in the return envelope. From there, you have to sign and date the return envelope. Make sure you sign in the right place with your signature on file (although you’re allowed to sign with a shortened version of your name, as long as the signature resembles the original — the Secretary of State’s office specifically lists “Bill” instead of “William” as an acceptable substitution) and list the correct date.

From there, you can drop it in the mail. It will be counted as long as it’s postmarked by Election Day and received within six days of the election. You can also drop it off in person, if you’d prefer, at the clerk’s office or at a drop box located around your city. You can look up those locations on the Secretary of State’s website.

More: ‘Whole new world’: 9 ways Michigan elections have changed

How can I trust my absentee ballot made it on time?

Registered voters can track their ballots through (you guessed it) the Secretary of State’s website. Put in your information, and there will be a box on the top right of the screen that will note whether your clerk has received your application or your ballot.

That website also lists drop box locations and when they’re accessible, as well as your polling place if you’d like to go in person.

When will my ballot be counted?

If you live in a town or city with more than 5,000 people, your municipality may create what’s known as an Absentee Voter Counting Board. This group of election workers processes ballots for up to eight days before an election. (Smaller towns can also do this starting on the Monday before the election.)

Ballots that arrive within six days after Election Day but are still postmarked properly will be counted after.

More: Early voting. Absentee. Election Day votes. How ballots are counted in Michigan

Is absentee voting secure?

There are a lot of different systems in place to ensure that absentee voting is as secure as standard operation.

Clerks compare signatures between ballots and the signatures on file to compare, for example. The secrecy envelope helps to keep your vote private. Votes from people who die before Election Day, as long as the clerk is able to learn they are dead, are rejected.

Michigan also uses something called the “qualified voter file” that tracks when a voter has turned in their ballot. It prevents clerks from issuing more than one ballot and also flags to them when more than one ballot from the same person has been returned. If someone were to request a second ballot after returning the first, the first is invalidated.

The Secretary of State’s office has a robust webpage dedicated to answering other questions about election security at michigan.gov/sos/elections/security.