FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

October 26, 2012

CONTACT:

Carmella Sabaugh 586-469-7939

Confirm absent ballot arrival online
Sabaugh urges absentee voting

Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh today mailed back her absent ballot and wants voters to know you can avoid waiting in line at the polls by requesting an absent ballot if you “expect to be absent” from the community in which you are registered on election day, or if you are at least 60 years old, or for other reasons. To request an absent ballot, simply fill out the form online http://www.michigan.gov/documents/AbsentVoterBallot_105377_7.pdf and mail it or take it to your local clerk.

Sabaugh also reminds voters to use an online system invented in Macomb County that has been adopted statewide to both confirm the date a ballot is received by the local clerk as well as track any absent voter application forms online using a system. The system, originated by the Macomb County clerk in 2006, helps citizens in the military, senior citizens, college students or anyone voting absentee to verify that their absentee ballot was received and will be counted Nov. 6.

“You can vote by mail if you ‘expect’ to be absent from your community on Election Day,” said Sabaugh. “You can easily confirm your local clerk received your ballot by checking online.”

The system functions much like tracking a package sent via Federal Express or UPS: visitors to http://www.michigan.gov/vote are prompted for name, birth date and zip code, and the system shows the dates that the local clerk received the voter’s absent voter application, mailed the ballot to the voter and received back the marked ballot. Absentee voter applications are available on the county clerk or Secretary of State Web sites.

Macomb County has 617,510 registered voters for the Nov. 6 election.

The online absent ballot tracker is not the first time Sabaugh has used technology to improve election services. She also:

• shames politicians into paying fines for campaign finance rule violations by posting online the list of those who owe.
• lets the public “follow the money” by posting County and local campaign finance statements online, even making them searchable by donor name, placing Macomb County among the top in Michigan regarding public disclosure and accountability.
• was one of the first to use competitive bids for election supplies, saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• created an election night reporting system that lets voters easily see the results for candidates appearing on their own ballot and even sends text message alerts for key races to those who want it.

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