New law aims to ensure more votes count in Michigan elections

This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat Michigan’s free newsletter here.

Michigan’s first election legislation of the 2025-26 session has made it over the finish line — and more voters could see their ballots counted as a result.

On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed four bills into law that would delay the start of some local officials’ terms. The laws are designed to ensure that people don’t take office until every vote is counted in their elections.

In many communities, local officials previously took office almost immediately after Election Day, meaning ballots counted later might not be considered at all. That functionally disenfranchised military voters or those voting from overseas, whose ballots can be counted as long as they arrive within six days of an election.

In November 2024, for instance, 1,440 ballots were returned in that six-day window — 303 from military voters and 1,137 from civilians overseas.

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Under the new laws, elected officers for cities, townships, and villages — supervisors, trustees, clerks, and so on — won’t be able to start their job any sooner than noon on the first day of the month following their election, which for many positions means Dec. 1. And no one will be able to start until the election is certified by the appropriate canvassers.

“We must take the … step to ensure our local elected officials are not sworn in before the election results are certified,” Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Democrat from Bloomfield who sponsored two of the bills, said in a news release. “This bipartisan solution sets a uniform date for local oaths of office to take place and gives our community leaders a firm expectation of when to prepare for their new roles.”

Voting legislation has not found much success in Michigan since the 2024 election, when Republicans took control of the House but Democrats kept control of the Senate. Numerous bills have made it through one chamber but have gone untouched in the other.

The four bills enacted Monday, however, had support from both major parties. Moss’ bills had the co-sponsorship of Republican Sens. Ed McBroom, of Waucedah Township, and Ruth Johnson, the former secretary of state from Holly. The two others, introduced by Republican Reps. Mike Hoadley, of Au Gres, and Pat Outman, of Six Lakes, had a number of members of both parties sponsoring them.

Hoadley said in a release that the change “protects the will of the voters,” while Outman said his bill “gives local communities more flexibility and helps ensure continuity in local government.”

The bills take effect immediately.

Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org. Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters here.