DETROIT — All Voting is Local Michigan State Director Aghogho Edevbie issued the following statement in response to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners’ announcement that all mail-in ballots for the November election will include prepaid return postage.
“We applaud Oakland County for doing the right thing. To ensure an accessible democracy, no voter should pay to cast their ballot. If our second largest county—with nearly one million registered voters—can agree to provide prepaid return postage on mailed ballots, other jurisdictions in Michigan must do the same. Voting by mail should not be a privilege for only those who can afford it, particularly amid a pandemic.”
Background:
While some cities in Michigan are providing prepaid return postage for their voters, Oakland County is the first county to guarantee prepaid return postage for mail-in ballots countywide.
Michigan officials have taken steps to expand voting by mail amid COVID-19 by mailing all registered voters absentee ballot applications for the August and November elections and introducing an online tool to apply for mail-in ballots. Requests for mail-in ballots for the upcoming August primary are up by more than 260 percent compared to the same time in 2016.