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Absentee voter bill signed into law

Voters can drop off absentee ballots at a ballot drop box in Detroit instead of using the mail.
Paul Sancya
/
AP
Voters can drop off absentee ballots at a ballot drop box in Detroit instead of using the mail.

The ballots must be postmarked by election day and arrive within the next six days.

Democratic Senator Jeremy Moss chairs the Senate Elections and Ethics Committee. He says the military community helped inspire the policy.

“We heard from many from our military community that this would ease this burden on them that when they’re serving in some of the most strenuous places across the globe that when they get their ballot and that they return it, it is counted.”

The legislation is part of implementation for a constitutional amendment voters approved last year.

Some critics are raising concerns the policy is more lenient than what the amendment requires.

Colin Jackson is a reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network.