DEARBORN, Mich. (WLUC) – Drivers may notice slight relief with the price of gas as the state average has dropped 6 cents over the past week.

AAA of Michigan reports that drivers are now paying an average of $3.51 per gallon for regular unleaded gas. This price is 18 cents less than this time last month and 3 cents less than this time last year. The state average is still slightly above the national average which is $3.45 per gallon.

Motorists are paying an average of $52 for a full 15-gallon tank of gasoline; a discount of about $6 from 2023′s highest price last August.

“Michigan motorists are seeing lower gas prices across the state,” said Adrienne Woodland, spokesperson, AAA-The Auto Club Group. “If demand falls, alongside rising supply, pump prices may continue to decrease.”

In the Upper Peninsula, the lowest average is in Baraga County at $3.34 per gallon. The highest is in Mackinac County at $3.75 per gallon.

Copyright 2024 WLUC. All rights reserved.

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.

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan county sheriff’s deputy was fatally shot while pursing a suspected stolen vehicle in Detroit, the Oakland County sheriff’s office said Sunday.

Bradley J. Reckling, who was on duty in an unmarked car, was following a 2022 Chevy Equinox Saturday evening after the vehicle was reported stolen earlier in the day from Red Oaks Waterpark in suburban Madison Heights, authorities said.

Reckling and other detectives had been searching for the suspected stolen vehicle and found it in Detroit. Reckling was following it when the vehicle suddenly stopped, people got out and shot the detective in the head, chest and torso, according to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

“It was an ambush,” Bouchard said at a news conference Sunday.

He said three individuals were taken into custody. Detroit police were continuing the investigation.

Reckling, of Rochester Hills, was a nine-year veteran. He was a married father of three with a fourth child on the way, according to Bouchard.

Bouchard said the shooting comes at a particularly difficult time for the department. Earlier this month, the county sheriff’s office responded to a shooting at a suburban Detroit splash pad.

“Things like this are soul crushing,” Bouchard said.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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