Oakland County, Michigan, July 14, 2008 -- Oakland County's absentee ballot voters will be able to track their ballot through the election process with a new service unveiled Monday by Ruth Johnson, the Oakland County Clerk and Register of Deeds.

Johnson demonstrated the Absentee Ballot Tracker to seniors at the Royal Oak Senior Center in Royal Oak and the Older Persons' Commission (OPC) in Rochester. Some 18-20 percent of Michigan voters, on average, vote by absentee ballot according to the Michigan Secretary of State's Office.

"This is a safe, secure way to ensure your ballot gets to your local clerk in time, that your vote, your voice, will count on Election Day," Johnson said. "Many of our absentee voters are seniors and for them, voting is their patriotic duty and they take the responsibility very seriously."

The Absentee Ballot Tracker allows voters to go online to the Clerk/Register of Deeds web site - www.oakgov.com/clerkrod - to follow their absentee ballot application and their ballot through the election process. Users will be asked to supply their last name, zip code, street number (but not street name) and birth year.

The tracker informs voters:

• The date their local clerk received their application.
• The date their local clerk mailed out their ballot.
• The date their local clerk received their completed ballot back in the mail.

Johnson said Oakland County worked with Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh, who first offered an absentee ballot tracker in the state. "We appreciate their help in bringing this to voters in Oakland County," Johnson said.

Oakland County's Absentee Ballot Tracker links to the Secretary of State's Qualified Voter File. The service was created at no cost to county taxpayers, other than limited staff time. The tracking service joins other new services offered by the Clerk and Register of Deeds Office. Last year, for example, the Clerk put local Campaign Finance Records online so voters could see which candidates/committees were receiving political contributions and the amount of those contributions.

Marye Miller (cq) , executive director of the Older Persons' Commission (OPC) in Rochester commended Johnson for the new service.

"The better informed seniors are, the more involved they can become with their local government," Miller said. "The county has offered another great service to help seniors see the process and how our vote is counted instead of wondering if their ballot really got in and was counted."

Sally Swayne, chairperson of the Oakland County Senior Advisory Council agreed. "Seniors feel so strongly about voting, for many of them it is their patriotic duty," said Swayne said. "They want to make sure their vote is counted, that they don't lose their voice. This new service will help reassure them that their application for an absentee ballot and the completed ballot has been received and will be counted on Election Day."

Royal Oak voter Thelma Mattson, who said she taped three pennies to her ballot envelope this week just to make sure there was enough postage to get it to her local clerk, thought the Absentee Ballot Tracker service was a good idea. She said she doesn't use the computer but her son could help her.

"Technology is out of this world," Mattson said. "You can do anything with a computer."

Oakland County has 890,319 registered voters.

For more information or to talk with Ruth Johnson, please call (248) 421-9676.