Michigan Legislature Moves to Shuffle Election Dates and Eliminate Low Turnout August Primary

by Hayley Harding, Votebeat

The plan from Senate Democrats keeps three elections on the calendar each year. That’s the way school districts want it, but not clerks.

A new proposal from Michigan’s Senate Democrats could shake up the state’s election calendar and would mean major changes for both campaigns and the election administrators. But it could have trouble balancing the interests of municipal clerks and school districts.

Sen. Sam Singh, the Senate majority floor leader and a Democrat from East Lansing, plans to introduce legislation within two weeks to move Michigan’s August primary to May, with some May races potentially shifting to February.

The changes would take effect in 2027, Singh said, potentially eliminating concerns Republicans in the House expressed about disrupting the 2026 election cycle. Because many campaigns are “up and running,” Singh told Votebeat in an interview last week, making changes in the middle of a cycle “was a significant concern.”

If the proposal becomes law, the general-election period would effectively be stretched out by three months each year. Meanwhile, clerks around the state would see a big shift in their election calendar — but it’s not the one they want. Clerks say they want just two elections a year: one in May or June and one in November.

Getting rid of Michigan’s August primary

Election officials have long urged the state to eliminate the August election and instead combine it with the May contests. Held just three months before the general election, August elections tend to draw low turnout. A recent Department of State report also deemed them “impractical” to audit, as the post-election period creeps up on preparations for November.

The Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks’ official stance is that Michigan doesn’t need three elections each year. Keeping all three, regardless of the timing, is expensive for local governments, said Michael Siegrist, the Canton Township clerk and first vice president of the local clerks association.