May. 7, 2026 7:00 am
Detroit 2020 Election Document Investigation Reveals 12.4% of Absentee Ballots Are MISSING OFFICIAL ENVELOPE Required By Law;
Evidence, obtained via FOIA from the City of Detroit, shows that absentee ballots were counted without official return envelopes.
Michigan law is very clear — the official return envelope with the voter’s signature is a core security requirement. Clerks are legally obligated to enforce it, and knowingly bypassing it is a felony.
Under MCL 168.764a, every absentee ballot must be returned in the official state-issued return envelope (the outer envelope that contains the voter’s signature certificate on the back).
The voter is required to place the marked ballot inside the secrecy sleeve, then place that sleeve inside the official return envelope, and sign and date the certificate on the back.
A ballot received without the proper official return envelope (or without a valid voter signature on that envelope) does not meet the legal requirements and is not eligible to be counted.
Clerks do not have the discretion to ignore the envelope requirement or process ballots received without one.
Knowingly processing absentee ballots that were not returned in the proper official return envelope is a serious violation of Michigan Election Law.
It is treated as election fraud under MCL 168.932.
This is a felony.
Penalty: Up to 5 years in prison and/or a substantial fine.
In 2020, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was admonished by a judge for mailing 7.7 million unsolicited voter applications to every “eligible” voter in the state without proper approval. She also directed local clerks to ignore signature verification requirements during the largest mail-in election in Michigan history, where proper signatures and strict chain-of-custody rules — including the mandatory use of official absentee ballot envelopes — were essential to ensuring a free and fair election.
Detroit 2020 Election Document Investigation Reveals 12.4% of Absentee Ballots Are MISSING OFFICIAL ENVELOPE Required By Law;
Evidence, obtained via FOIA from the City of Detroit, shows that absentee ballots were counted without official return envelopes.
Michigan law is very clear — the official return envelope with the voter’s signature is a core security requirement. Clerks are legally obligated to enforce it, and knowingly bypassing it is a felony.
Under MCL 168.764a, every absentee ballot must be returned in the official state-issued return envelope (the outer envelope that contains the voter’s signature certificate on the back).
The voter is required to place the marked ballot inside the secrecy sleeve, then place that sleeve inside the official return envelope, and sign and date the certificate on the back.
A ballot received without the proper official return envelope (or without a valid voter signature on that envelope) does not meet the legal requirements and is not eligible to be counted.
Clerks do not have the discretion to ignore the envelope requirement or process ballots received without one.
Knowingly processing absentee ballots that were not returned in the proper official return envelope is a serious violation of Michigan Election Law.
It is treated as election fraud under MCL 168.932.
This is a felony.
Penalty: Up to 5 years in prison and/or a substantial fine.
In 2020, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was admonished by a judge for mailing 7.7 million unsolicited voter applications to every “eligible” voter in the state without proper approval. She also directed local clerks to ignore signature verification requirements during the largest mail-in election in Michigan history, where proper signatures and strict chain-of-custody rules — including the mandatory use of official absentee ballot envelopes — were essential to ensuring a free and fair election.
