{"data":{"id":"us-mi/mich.-comp.-laws-168.865","jurisdiction":"us-mi","citation":"Mich. Comp. Laws § 168.865","heading":"Recount petitions; forms.","body":"Sec. 865.\n\n(1) A candidate petition for a recount must be in the following form:\n\nCANDIDATE PETITION FOR A RECOUNT I ____________________, the petitioner, reside at ___________________________, and I petition the __________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _____________ (Office/District/Party) at the election. I am aggrieved on account of error in the canvass or returns of the votes. I have a good-faith belief that, but for error, I would have had a reasonable chance of winning the election. I am requesting a recount of sufficient votes to change the result of the election. I request that the following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted: Precinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number Name of Jurisdiction _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ (List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets) Specifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ My deposit of $________ is enclosed. Signature of candidate:___________________________________ Date of signature:________________________________________ Subscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___ Name of notary public:__________________________ Signature of notary public:_______________________________ Notary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________ Acting in the County of ___________________________ My commission expires:_____________________________\n\nCANDIDATE PETITION FOR A RECOUNT\n\nI ____________________, the petitioner, reside at ___________________________, and I petition the __________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _____________ (Office/District/Party) at the election. I am aggrieved on account of error in the canvass or returns of the votes. I have a good-faith belief that, but for error, I would have had a reasonable chance of winning the election. I am requesting a recount of sufficient votes to change the result of the election.\n\nI request that the following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted:\n\nPrecinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number\n\nName of Jurisdiction\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n(List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets)\n\nSpecifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes:\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\nMy deposit of $________ is enclosed.\n\nSignature of candidate:___________________________________\n\nDate of signature:________________________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n\nSignature of notary public:_______________________________\n\nNotary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________\n\nActing in the County of ___________________________\n\nMy commission expires:_____________________________\nDate of signature:________________________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n\nSignature of notary public:_______________________________\n\nNotary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________\n\nActing in the County of ___________________________\n\nMy commission expires:_____________________________\n\n(2) A candidate counter petition for a recount must be in the following form:\n\nCANDIDATE COUNTER PETITION FOR A RECOUNT I ____________________, the counter petitioner, reside at ___________________________, and I counter petition the __________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _____________ (Office/District/Party) at the election. I request that the additional following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted: Precinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number Name of Jurisdiction _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ (List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets) Specifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ My deposit of $________ is enclosed. Signature of candidate:___________________________________ Date of signature:________________________________________ Subscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___ Name of notary public:__________________________ Signature of notary public:_______________________________ Notary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________ Acting in the County of ___________________________ My commission expires:_____________________________\n\nCANDIDATE COUNTER PETITION FOR A RECOUNT\n\nI ____________________, the counter petitioner, reside at ___________________________, and I counter petition the __________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _____________ (Office/District/Party) at the election.\n\nI request that the additional following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted:\n\nPrecinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number\n\nName of Jurisdiction\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n(List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets)\n\nSpecifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes:\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\nMy deposit of $________ is enclosed.\n\nSignature of candidate:___________________________________\n\nDate of signature:________________________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n\nSignature of notary public:_______________________________\n\nNotary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________\n\nActing in the County of ___________________________\n\nMy commission expires:_____________________________\nDate of signature:________________________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n\nSignature of notary public:_______________________________\n\nNotary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________\n\nActing in the County of ___________________________\n\nMy commission expires:_____________________________\n\n(3) Except as otherwise provided under subsection (5), a ballot question committee petition for a recount must be in the following form:\n\nBALLOT QUESTION COMMITTEE PETITION FOR A RECOUNT I _______________________, an authorized representative of _________________, petition the ______________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _____________ (ballot question) at the ______________ election. The ballot question committee has a good-faith belief that, but for error, the result of the ballot question would have been the opposite. The ballot question committee is requesting a recount of sufficient votes to change the result of the election. The ballot question committee requests that the following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted: Precinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number Name of Jurisdiction _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ (List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets) Specifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ My deposit of $________ is enclosed. Signature of ballot question committee representative: ____________________________ Date of signature:_________________________________ Subscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___ Name of notary public:__________________________ Signature of notary public:_______________________________ Notary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________ Acting in the County of ___________________________ My commission expires:_____________________________\n\nBALLOT QUESTION COMMITTEE PETITION FOR A RECOUNT\n\nI _______________________, an authorized representative of _________________, petition the ______________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _____________ (ballot question) at the ______________ election. The ballot question committee has a good-faith belief that, but for error, the result of the ballot question would have been the opposite. The ballot question committee is requesting a recount of sufficient votes to change the result of the election.\n\nThe ballot question committee requests that the following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted:\n\nPrecinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number\n\nName of Jurisdiction\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n(List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets)\n\nSpecifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes:\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\nMy deposit of $________ is enclosed.\n\nSignature of ballot question committee representative:\n\n____________________________\n\nDate of signature:_________________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n__________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\nMy deposit of $________ is enclosed.\n\nSignature of ballot question committee representative:\n\n____________________________\n\nDate of signature:_________________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n\nSignature of notary public:_______________________________\n\nNotary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________\n\nActing in the County of ___________________________\n\nMy commission expires:_____________________________\n\n(4) Except as otherwise provided under subsection (5), a ballot question committee counter petition for a recount must be in the following form:\n\nBALLOT QUESTION COMMITTEE COUNTER PETITION FOR A RECOUNT I ________________________, an authorized representative of _________________, counter petition the ______________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _________________ (ballot question) at the election. The ballot question committee requests that the additional following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted: Precinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number Name of Jurisdiction _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ _____________ _____________________________________ (List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets) Specifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ My deposit of $________ is enclosed. Signature of ballot question committee representative: ____________________________ Date of signature:___________________________ Subscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___ Name of notary public:__________________________ Signature of notary public:_______________________________ Notary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________ Acting in the County of ___________________________ My commission expires:_____________________________\n\nBALLOT QUESTION COMMITTEE COUNTER PETITION FOR A RECOUNT\n\nI ________________________, an authorized representative of _________________, counter petition the ______________ (state/county) board of canvassers for a recount of the votes cast for the _________________ (ballot question) at the election.\n\nThe ballot question committee requests that the additional following precincts, absent voter counting board (AVCB) precincts, and early voting precincts within the listed jurisdictions be recounted:\n\nPrecinct/AVCB Precinct/Early Voting Precinct Number\n\nName of Jurisdiction\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n_____________\n\n_____________________________________\n\n(List additional precincts/vote centers on the back or attach additional sheets)\n\nSpecifically explain the error in the canvass or returns of votes:\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\n__________________________________________________________________\n\nMy deposit of $________ is enclosed.\n\nSignature of ballot question committee representative:\n\n____________________________\n\nDate of signature:___________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n\nSignature of notary public:_______________________________\n\nNotary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________\n\nActing in the County of ___________________________\n\nMy commission expires:_____________________________\n___________\n\nDate of signature:___________________________\n\nSubscribed and sworn to before me this __ day of _____, 20___\n\nName of notary public:__________________________\n\nSignature of notary public:_______________________________\n\nNotary public, State of Michigan, County of _________________\n\nActing in the County of ___________________________\n\nMy commission expires:_____________________________\n\n(5) The secretary of state shall modify the ballot question committee petition for a recount form under subsection (3) and the ballot question committee counter petition for a recount form under subsection (4) as appropriate to allow an elector to file either petition as authorized under sections 863 and 880.","path":["MI Code","Chapter 168","Act Act-116-of-1954"],"source_url":"https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-168-865","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:31Z","sha256":"68b1e921c03e0c8bc22f64f783d3d1da3c7d45c1126af7a4c39c11d86ec6621b","source_id":"us-mi","stale":false,"prev":"us-mi/mich.-comp.-laws-168.863","next":"us-mi/mich.-comp.-laws-168.866"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}