MICHIGAN — Voter registration deadline for the Nov. 4 general election is Monday, Oct. 6. Key races include the governor’s race between incumbent and republican candidate Rick Snyder and his opponent, democrat Mark Schauer and the competition between democratic Congressman Gary Peters and former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Carl Levin. 

There are also a few Arab Americans running for a seat on the Dearborn Board of Education, including attorney Mariam Bazzi, Ghinwah Karkaba, the chair of Dearborn’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and Dearborn resident Nofila Haidar.

Voters can register by mail or in person at any Secretary of State office or at their county, city, or township clerk’s office. Residents must be 18 years or older and be a U.S. citizen to register. Those who wish to register must do so in the city or township in which they reside. Voters who qualify can cast an absentee ballot. To qualify for an absentee ballot, a registered voter must be at least 60 years or older, physically unable to go to the polls without assistance, expecting to be absent the entire time polls are open on Election Day, in jail awaiting trial or arraignment or unable to attend polls for religious reasons.