DETROIT, MI -- Detroit elections are entering the digital age with the help of Democrats.
Detroit City Clerk Janet Winfrey, alongside Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson, on Wednesday announced a new smart phone and online application process available to voters wishing to secure an absentee ballot.
Detroit is the first city in the state to move to an electronic application process, although up to three more cities are expected to announce similar plans between next week up through the primary election in August with "many more" before the general election, Johnson said.
In the past, Detroit only accepted absentee ballot applications via mail, fax and hand delivery.
Johnson cited the inability to obtain an authentic digital signature as the reason but says new technology makes it possible.
"We know we want to engage the least likely voter," Winfrey said. "For this election, it is the 18- to 35-year-old, and we know that the least likely voter has their cell phone attached to their hip so why not be able to use their smart phone to request an absentee ballot."
Winfrey, who ran an unsuccessful 2010 campaign as a Democrat to become Secretary of State, said the partnership has nothing to to with partisan politics.
"It could have been done with the Democratic Party, it could have been done with the Green Party, Libertarian, Republican Party, it doesn't matter," she said, "What matters is that we have the ability now to use our smart phones to access voter information as well as request an absentee ballot."
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