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Oakland County to provide pre-paid return postage for November election absentee ballots

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Posted at 10:45 AM, Jul 28, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-28 10:45:22-04

OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (WXYZ) — Oakland County will provide pre-paid return postage with the November 2020 election absentee ballots.

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to establish the Oakland Together Absentee Ballot program.

It will be funded with up to $575,000 from the Oakland Together Local Government Partnership program, which the county says was established with funds the county received from the federal CARES Act.

“We encourage everyone to vote by mail this year to protect voters and election workers during this global pandemic,” Board Chairman David T. Woodward said. “By covering the postage cost to send back voters’ ballots, we’ve removed a final barrier to make it easier for everyone to choose and vote by mail.”

Because of the amount of the required postage to return a ballot by mail, residents typically use two stamps and end up paying $1.10 in postage. Oakland County is the first county in Michigan to pay for postage on all absentee ballots returned by mail.

Voters will still have the option to use local absentee ballot drop boxes to return their ballots.