You may be able to get the clerk to pick up your ballot in Michigan. Here's how.

If you have an absentee ballot and you don't have a way to return it, your clerk will pick it up from you.

It's an option that has been on the books for decades, but many people might not realize it.

"The clerk is required by law to offer this service," Aghogho Edevbie, the Michigan state director of All Voting is Local, said Wednesday. "As you can imagine, this is a particularly crucial service amid COVID-19, especially for voters with disabilities, voters who are ill, and senior citizens."

The aim, he said, is to make sure every vote is counted.

But, to have your ballot picked up there are some conditions: The ballot must have been issued by the election official collecting it; you must be unable to return the ballot under other authorized delivery methods, and the pickup request must be made by 5 p.m. Friday.

The Secretary of State's Office said Wednesday that the process for how this is done is "pretty well outlined" in the Election Officials' Manual, and each election clerk is handling their own jurisdiction's process of picking up ballots. 

That makes sense because there's one other condition: The election official will pick up ballots only within their jurisdiction.  

Edevbie said All Voting is Local, a nonpartisan group, does not know whether clerks are prepared for an onslaught of calls or even if they will get requests. He also said he did not know how often this provision of the law, which has been on the books since 1982, has been used in the past.

"This year we've seen a huge increase in absentee ballots being sent out," he said. "A good number of those are in metro Detroit."

There are drop boxes and there's the mail, which has been under scrutiny for late deliveries.

But, "this is a really crucial tool to ensure everyone's vote is counted."

If voters feel that an election official is not following the law, they can report it to the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

The manual says that if you don't meet that criteria, election officials — or authorized assistants — may pick up a voter’s absentee ballot at their discretion, but a ballot still must have been issued by that official and you must be unable to return it another way.

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Election assistants authorized to pick up absentee ballots must carry appropriate credentials and show them when asked.

But, the manual says, an election official should not   pick up a voter’s  absentee ballot unless the voter requests it.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.