Under Michigan law, first-time voters who registered by mail — including through third-party groups such as the ones on campus this fall — must vote in person, not by mailed absentee ballot.

The secretary of state has agreed to offer “duplicate registrations” for first-time voters who registered by mail, making them eligible to obtain an absentee ballot.

To get a duplicate registration, voters can go to any secretary of state branch office and present a valid form of identification to receive clearance to request an absentee ballot, Chesney said.

The agreement among 65 of Michigan’s 83 county clerks allows them to cross-deputize one another to verify first-time voters’ identities without requiring voters to travel to their hometown.

But the agreement has come under fire from Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, whose office issued a statement opposing it last week.

John Sellek, a spokesman for the attorney general, said the program is unfair to voters in the 18 counties whose clerks have not joined the initiative.

“Say you’re from Wayne County and your suitemate is from Oakland County,” he said. “You get to participate in this program, but your roommate doesn’t. That’s a violation of equal protection of the law.”

Susan Kaltenbach, president of the Michigan Association of County Clerks, has said the groups will continue to cross-deputize unless the attorney general’s office takes legal action, but Ingham County Clerk Mike Bryanton said he would encourage students to use the secretary of state’s program first.

“The cleanest way for them to do it is to go to the secretary of state branch office,” he said. “However, if for any reason that’s a problem, I’ll certainly accommodate the situation.”

Bryanton said he has received very few requests to participate in the program.

East Lansing City Clerk Nicole Evans agreed with Bryanton that students should turn to the secretary of state’s program first. But the important thing, she said, is that students have easy access to an absentee ballot to ensure they have full voting rights.

“When the voting registration drives started up, a lot of these students came there not knowing the requirements to be able to vote (absentee),” she said. “Once they registered, they had to make special arrangements … to go back home.”

Evans said anyone who can vote by absentee should, because voting workers are predicting long lines at the polls Nov. 4.

All of the quibbling over what voters can and can’t do may just confuse voters and lead to more problems on Election Day, students said.

“(Students’ votes) should be counted and these silly debates over that kind of thing shouldn’t deter people from doing what they need to do as a student,” arts and humanities sophomore Erin Degroote said.

Chesney said voters who wish to duplicate register can do so at any secretary of state branch office by Thursday, two days before the deadline to request a mailed absentee ballot. The East Lansing branch office, 400 Albert Ave., is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.