100 Absentee Ballots Mysteriously Go Missing in Michigan

Around 100 people on the northwest side of Grand Rapids are confused after checking their mail and not finding the absentee ballot that they requested. The Grand Rapids city clerk’s office sent out absentee ballots on Sept. 26.

Joel Hondorp, the clerk for the city of Grand Rapids, said it’s common for some absentee ballots to get lost because there are a lot of moving pieces at the United States Postal Service. The city and USPS are currently investigating where those missing ballots went.

The 100 people who called the clerk’s office to report not getting an absentee ballot have new ones on the way and the old ones were spoiled. Those voters will be able to tell which one is the new one if there is a higher number on the ballot and they can also call the clerk’s office to confirm whether it is the right one. Hondorp said overall his office has sent out 32,000 absentee ballots in total for this election. A majority of the 100 callers lived on the northwest side of the city.

Hondorp said the best way for all voters to keep track of their absentee ballots is to look on the state’s voting website. There you can track when your ballot was sent and if it was returned.