Reform allows county clerks to remove deceased voters from voter file

State Rep. Andrew Fink has introduced a measure that would allow Michigan county clerks to remove deceased individuals from the state’s qualified voter file.

The qualified voter file (QVF) is the official file of all eligible voters in the state of Michigan. Outdated information in the QVF caused problems in 2020 when the Secretary of State mailed absent voter applications to all voters in the file and numerous households reported receiving applications for people who have been deceased for years.

“This is a common-sense solution to eliminate potential voter fraud in Michigan’s election process,” Fink said. “County clerks already keep record of death certificates, so it makes perfectly good sense for their office to be able to remove individuals from the voter file when new death certificates are issued.  This bill will allow county clerks to help keep the voter rolls accurate.”