Absentee ballot dropbox monitoring
As for monitoring, that’s a little more nuanced.
Municipalities must have video monitoring on their drop boxes within 75 days of an election under a bipartisan law passed in 2020.
However, because video systems cost money and take time to install, municipalities have until 2026 to add them to older drop boxes installed before the 2020 law. New drop boxes automatically require video monitoring.
Some cities used COVID-19 dollars to buy video surveillance equipment in 2020, but how many have completed installations isn’t known.
Michigan law requires all ballot drop boxes to be “securely locked” and affixed to the ground or another stationary object. They must be designed to stop someone from removing any absentee ballots, or applications, when locked.
Only a city or township’s clerk, deputy clerk “or a sworn member of the clerk’s staff” can collect absentee ballots or applications from drop boxes under state law. Those same individuals can begin collecting materials from a ballot drop box 35 days ahead of an election.
