Voter Registration

Individuals are eligible to register to vote if they meet the following qualifications:

  • At least 18 years of age by Election Day
  • A resident of the State of Michigan and a 30-day resident of the City of Battle Creek
  • A United States citizen

Check your voter registration status If you are not already registered, fill out the Registration Application (PDF) and return the Clerk's Office or register online (to use this convenient website, visitors must currently have a Michigan Driver’s License or Personal Identification Card and qualify to vote in the state of Michigan (i.e., citizen, age, residency)).


Voters may register in person, online or by mail up to 15 days prior to an election. You may register to vote by mail, at the Office of the City Clerk or at any Michigan Secretary of State Branch Office


Voters may also register within 14 days of an election, up to and including Election Day, only through the following:

  1. Must be done in person at the Office of the City Clerk, and
  2. Must show proof of residency in addition to proof of identity (or an ID that proves both). 

 Documents that may be accepted if additional proof of residency is required (these items must

 include the applicant’s name and current address): • a current utility bill • bank statement • paycheck • government check • other government document.

By law, voters must be 30-day residents of a jurisdiction to be qualified to vote in that jurisdiction.


Crimes & Felonies

Attention registered voters who have been convicted and sentenced for a crime and are in confinement as a result of that conviction and sentencing: You may not vote during the time you are in confinement. Confinement is defined by Michigan Department of Prisons for the purpose of voting as incarcerated in jail or prison, under house arrest, on a tether or serving in a work release program.


Your voting rights are restored once you have completed your sentence, even if you have been convicted and sentenced for a felony charge. If you are charged with a crime, but not convicted or sentenced, you may vote even if you are in jail.


Contact the City Clerk's office at 269-966-3348 for directions on applying for an absentee ballot for the election you wish to vote in. If your sentencing prevents you from entering public school grounds and your precinct voting location is located in a school, please contact the City Clerk's office about voting absentee ballot.

Voter Registration Cancellation

As part of the Michigan’s automatic voter registration law, when a registered voter updates his or her driver’s license or state ID address, the voter’s registration is also updated. If a voter moves within his or her city or township, the registration moves to the voter’s new address. If a voter moves to a different city or township in Michigan, the voter’s previous registration is canceled, and the voter is automatically re-registered at his or her new address.

When a voter surrenders his or her Michigan Driver’s license in a different state, the Michigan Department of State receives this information. The Bureau of Elections uses this as initial information that the voter may have moved. The Bureau sends a notice of cancellation to the voter’s address in Michigan. If the voter does not respond and does not have any voting activity by the second even-year November federal election following the notice, the voter’s registration is canceled. After the notice is sent, the voter is marked inactive and can still vote until the cancellation occurs.

When election mail (such as a voter information card or absent voter ballot application) sent to a voter by a clerk is returned by the United States Postal Service as undeliverable, clerks use this as initial information that the voter may have moved. The clerk sends a notice of cancellation to the voter’s address in Michigan. If the voter does not respond and does not have any voting activity by the second even-year federal election following the notice, the voter’s registration is canceled. After the notice is sent, the voter is marked inactive and can still vote until the cancellation occurs.

Voters who wish to cancel their registrations can make a written request (PDF) to the City Clerk:

  •  All cancellation requests must include the voters full name, registered address, date of birth, MI Driver's License or Identification Card Number and a original signature.
  • Voters who have received a notice of cancellation can respond to the notice confirming that their registration should be canceled. This results in the registration being canceled immediately, rather than at the end of the two-election waiting period.
  • Requests for cancellation can be delivered in-person or sent by postal mail to City of Battle Creek, City Clerk, 10 N. Division Street, Room 111, Battle Creek, MI 49014 or by email at cityclerk@battlecreekmi.gov.