Precinct Delegates

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The Election of Precinct Delegates

Precinct delegate candidates are required to file an Affidavit of Identity to gain ballot access; petition signatures are not required or accepted.
Precinct delegate candidates must file their affidavit of identity to appear on the ballot at the County Clerk’s Office.
The precinct delegate filing deadline elapses at 4 p.m. on May 3, 2022.
Michigan election law stipulates that a precinct delegate candidate must be a qualified and registered elector residing within, as well as having his or her actual bona fide residence within, the election precinct for which he or she desires to become a candidate on the filing deadline. A precinct delegate candidate must be at least 18 years of age by May 5, 2020.
A precinct delegate may be elected with a single vote.
Anyone who wishes to seek a precinct delegate position with write-in votes must file a Declaration of Intent with the County Clerk by 4 p.m. on the Friday preceding the August primary. As an alternative, such candidates may file a Declaration of Intent with the appropriate precinct board on the day of the August primary anytime prior to the close of the polls.

Creation of Precinct Delegate Positions

The chairpersons of each congressional district or county political party qualified to participate in the statewide August primary certifies to the county election commission no later than April 1 the number of precinct delegate positions to appear under the party’s vignette in each precinct in the county. Michigan election law provides that the allotment of delegates to all precincts in the state shall be made to insure, as near as is practicable, equal apportionment based upon the total vote cast for the candidate of each political party for either President of the United States or Secretary of State at the last general November election when elections for those offices were held, whichever is later. However, each precinct shall have at least 1 delegate. (MCL 168.623a)

If the chairperson of a political party committee qualified to participate in the August primary fails to meet the April 1 certification deadline, the county election commission is required to determine the number of precinct delegate positions to appear under the party’s vignette in each precinct in the county.

Candidate Qualifications

A precinct delegate candidate must be at least 18 years of age by the filing deadline and must be a qualified and registered elector residing within, as well as having his or her actual bona fide residence within, the election precinct for which he or she desires to become a candidate. (MCL 168.624)

A precinct delegate candidate may hold or seek any other public office in Michigan. Consequently, a precinct delegate candidate may appear as a candidate for another office on the primary ballot. While a precinct delegate candidate may not serve as an election inspector in the precinct in which he or she resides, a precinct delegate candidate may serve as an election inspector in any other precinct in the county. (MCL 168.677)

Filing Requirements

A person who wishes to seek a precinct delegate position must file an Affidavit of Identity to appear on the ballot with the clerk of his or her County (not the city or township clerk). Petition signatures are not required. To facilitate the precinct delegate candidate filing process, an Affidavit of Identity designed exclusively for use by precinct delegate candidates has been developed by the Department of States Bureau of Elections. The form is available through commercial vendors. It merits note that the availability of the precinct delegate Affidavit of Identity form does not preclude a precinct delegate candidate from filing with the standard Affidavit of Identity form.

The deadline for filing an Affidavit of Identity for a precinct delegate position is 4 p.m. on the 13th Tuesday prior to the August Primary. (MCL 168.624)
The deadline for withdrawing a precinct delegate filing is 4 p.m. on the 3rd day following the filing deadline. The withdrawal must be in writing and must be filed with the County Clerk; Michigan election law does not make any allowances for filing such withdrawals with the city or township clerk. (MCL 168.624a)

Disclosure Forms & Compliance Statement

Precinct delegate candidates are not required to file disclosure forms under Michigan’s Campaign Finance Act. Consequently, precinct delegate candidates are not required to file the campaign finance compliance statement required under MCL 168.558(4). (MCL 168.558(4) requires any candidate filing an Affidavit of Identity to state on the form that at the date the affidavit was executed, all statements, reports, late filing fees, and fines required of the candidate or any candidate committee organized to support the candidates election under the Michigan Campaign Finance Act have been filed or paid.) In addition, precinct delegate candidates are not required to file the campaign finance compliance statement required under MCL 168.848. (MCL 168.848 requires any candidate elected to office on the state, county or local level to file a similar campaign finance compliance statement prior to assuming office.)

Complaint Process

A complaint may be filed if it is believed that a precinct delegate candidate:

Is not registered to vote in the precinct he or she wishes to represent
Does not actually reside within the precinct he or she wishes to represent. The complaint must be presented to the County Clerk in writing before the August primary ballots are released for printing. The County Clerk forwards any challenges filed against the registration or residence of a precinct delegate candidate to the appropriate city or township clerk for review. The city or township clerk then has 48 hours to complete the review and report back to the County Clerk (MCL 168.624)

Precinct Delegate Ballot

Precinct delegate positions are placed after all other partisan offices on optical scan ballots. The names of precinct delegate candidates are not rotated on the ballot.

Write-in Candidates for Precinct Delegate

An individual who wishes to seek a precinct delegate position with write-in votes is required to file a Declaration of Intent with the County Clerk by 4 p.m. on the Friday preceding the August Primary. As an alternative, such candidates may file a Declaration of Intent with the appropriate precinct board on the day of the August primary anytime prior to the close of the polls. Precinct Delegate Write-in Declarations of Intent can no longer be filed at the City or Township Clerk’s office.

Write-in votes cast for a precinct delegate candidate who has not filed a Declaration of Intent do not count. (Write-in votes which do not count due to the candidates failure to file a Declaration of Intent are not considered when determining whether an over vote has occurred on optical scan ballots.)

The Election - Notification to Winning Precinct Delegate Candidates

The precinct delegate candidates who receive the highest number of votes for the available positions under each party column are elected. Candidates elected to precinct delegate positions are certified by the County Clerk. The County Clerk is required to notify candidates elected to precinct delegate positions of their election after the primary. The notification can be sent by first class, registered or certified mail. (MCL 168.607; 608; 625)

Candidates elected to precinct delegate positions are the only candidates certified by the County Clerk. In all other instances, candidates nominated or elected to office are certified by the County Board of Canvassers. A tie vote for a precinct delegate position is resolved by the conduct of a drawing held under the direction of the County Clerk. When conducting a drawing to resolve a tie vote for a precinct delegate position, the County Clerk has the involved candidates draw folded strips of paper bearing the words elected or not elected from a box. (MCL 168.607) Precinct delegate elections are not subject to vote recounts.

Notification to County Political Party Organizations - Office Records

Immediately following the primary, the County Clerk is required to furnish the chairpersons of the county political party organizations with the names of the precinct delegates elected by the political party. The County Clerk is also required to supply the chairpersons with the names of those persons specified under Michigan election law, MCL 168.608(4) and (5). Michigan election law further specifies that the County Clerk is required to record the names of the delegates elected in a book to be kept for that purpose and shall file the book among the records of the clerks office. (MCL 168.608)