Absentee ballots mailed to all Michigan voters for May 5 election

LANSING, Mich. - For Michigan residents voting in May 5 elections, you'll be receiving a little mail ahead of the date.

The secretary of state's office said it would be mailing voters their ballot applications as to avoid close contact between individuals at the booth, which would reduce the potential for community transmission of the coronavirus.

While several municipalities have postponed their May elections until August, there are several that have not. Their constituents will receive an absentee voter ballot application in the mail.

"We are working to ensure the health and safety guidelines of our state and federal government are followed in the lead up to and administration of the May 5 election," said SOS Director Jocelyn Benson. "This includes working to recruit election workers to serve in all jurisdictions and providing hygiene supplies and explicit guidance on how to process absent-voter ballots and carry out other election duties while observing strict health precautions."

The majority of questions on the May 5 ballot relate to school district millages and bonds. Of the entities that are still holding their elections, most are doing so because of existing critical funds that would expire if they weren't spent.

You can find the original list of elections here, however, many of the elections on that list might have changed over fears of the coronavirus.

Michigan's first bout of increased absentee voting came March 10 during the 2020 Democratic Primary. Following the 2018 midterms when Prop 3 was approved that expanded absentee voting access to all registered voters in the state, the primary race saw a surge of remote voting.

Almost a million people requested absentee ballots for the election.