Already voted for a candidate who dropped out? Here’s what you can do.

In the wake of state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) dropping out of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Sunday — after absentee ballots were sent out to Michigan’s voters — some voters may have already cast their ballots in the August 4 primary for candidates prior to their decision to drop out. For anyone wishing to change their vote, the Michigan Department of State makes that possible. 

Absentee ballots, according to the Department of State, are available beginning 40 days before any election — in this case, Thursday, June 25. That means that voters who received their absentee ballots in the nearly two weeks since might already have filled out their ballot with a vote for McMorrow, and might want to change that vote in light of recent news. 

While McMorrow’s name will remain on the ballot for all primary voters, as the deadline to formally withdraw from the ballot was in April, those casting their votes going forward will do so with the knowledge that she has dropped out of her race. 

So how do you change your vote if your preferred candidate is now out of the race?

If you’ve already submitted your absentee ballot:

For absentee ballots that have already been completed and submitted by mail, in person at a local clerk’s office, or via drop box, those votes can be changed by canceling or “spoiling” the ballot and resubmitting a new one, either absentee or in-person, with their preferred choice. 

Under Michigan state law, returned absentee ballots can be spoiled through a written and signed request submitted to the local clerk’s office. That request must be received by 5 p.m. on the second Friday before Election Day —for the August primary this year, that date is July 24. 

Crucially, absentee votes cast by inserting the ballot into a tabulator at an early voting site cannot be spoiled or changed, and neither can any votes cast by early in-person voting.

However, the state’s early voting law does not require municipalities to begin early voting until the second Saturday before the election — July 25 — and even for municipalities that choose to start their early voting before then, July 6 was the first day that was possible. McMorrow suspended her campaign prior to that date. 

If you have not yet submitted your absentee ballot, but you have filled it out:

For absentee ballots that have been filled out but have not yet been returned, it is still possible to spoil that ballot and either vote in-person or receive a replacement absentee ballot. That can be done by the same process as for those already returned — submitting a signed, written statement to the local clerk’s office to spoil an existing ballot and receiving a replacement. It can also be done by the process for those who lost or never received their absentee ballot — similarly submitting a signed, written statement to the local clerk, who will note in the qualified voter file that the original ballot is spoiled and provide a new ballot. 

To receive a replacement absentee ballot by mail, the deadline to spoil the original ballot is 5 p.m. on the Friday immediately before the election, this year, July 31. And to receive a replacement ballot in person, the deadline is 4 p.m. on the day before the election. 

And if you want to vote in person, either early or on Election Day, an absentee ballot can be spoiled and a replacement vote can be cast in-person. 

“Voters who wish to vote in person after obtaining an absentee ballot can do so at their early voting site or Election Day polling place if they have not already returned their absentee ballot. Voters may either submit their voted absentee ballot for tabulation at the early voting site or Election Day polling place or they may “spoil” their absentee ballot and be issued a new ballot,” the Department of State website says.