The short version.
Alger County, MI has 7,513 active registered voters across 9 precincts, as of August 2026.
Michigan runs its elections through local officials, and for a county race almost everything happens at your county clerk's office rather than in Lansing. You file there, they check your paperwork, and they put your name on the ballot.
Getting on the ballot is genuinely simple compared with most states: collect a modest number of signatures from registered voters, or, if you are running with a party, pay a flat $100 fee instead. There is no percentage-of-salary formula and no sliding scale to work out.
This page covers that for Alger County and points you at your local election office for anything specific to your county. It is not legal advice; the official rules live with your election office and the Michigan Bureau of Elections.
Alger County by the numbers.
- 7,513 active registered voters across 9 precincts (official Michigan voter file, August 2026).
- 3,668 supervoters (48.82%, voted in at least 3 of the last 4 November generals). These are the doors reliable-voter campaigns knock first.
- In 2024, Alger County cast 5,258 votes for president: 59.3% Republican, 39.5% Democratic.
The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. Motion51 is ready to load your Alger County voter file the moment you send it over, so you can start finding your people now.
Key Michigan dates.
Still open for the November 3, 2026 ballot
The no-party qualifying-petition route closed on July 16 and the last local filing window on July 21. One route is open, and it stays open later in Michigan than in most states.
- Fri Oct 23, 2026, 4:00 p.m. WRITE-IN: file a Declaration of Intent to be a Write-In Candidate, by 4:00 p.m. on the second Friday before the election (MCL 168.737a). File with your city or township clerk for a city or township office, or with the county clerk for a county office, a single-county district or a probate judgeship. Votes are NOT counted for an undeclared write-in.
- Thu Jul 16, 2026, 4:00 p.m. Qualifying petitions for candidates with no party affiliation -- CLOSED (MCL 168.590c, the 110th day).
- Tue Jul 21, 2026, 4:00 p.m. City, village, school board and community college trustee filing -- CLOSED (MCL 168.646a).
- Tue Apr 21, 2026, 4:00 p.m. Nominating petitions or the $100 fee, plus the Affidavit of Identity, for the August primary -- CLOSED (MCL 168.133 and following).
There is one narrow exception to the write-in declaration requirement: if a candidate printed on the ballot dies or is disqualified after that 4:00 p.m. deadline, MCL 168.737a(2) drops the requirement for that office.
2028: Michigan county offices are elected in presidential years
This is the single most important fact on the page. Every county row office -- clerk, treasurer, register of deeds, prosecuting attorney, sheriff, drain commissioner, surveyor -- is elected only in presidential years under MCL 168.200. And since 2021 PA 122 gave county commissioners four-year terms starting with the 2024 election, commission seats are on that same cycle too. If you ran for commissioner in 2022 and expected the seat back in 2026, it is not on the ballot.
- Tue Apr 25, 2028, 4:00 p.m. COMPUTED filing deadline for county offices: nominating petitions or the $100 fee, plus the Affidavit of Identity, to the COUNTY CLERK -- not the Secretary of State (MCL 168.193(1), the fifteenth Tuesday before the August primary). You must already be a registered elector of the county by this date (MCL 168.191).
- Thu Jul 20, 2028, 4:00 p.m. COMPUTED deadline for a candidate with no party affiliation to file qualifying petitions (MCL 168.590c, the 110th day before the general).
- Tue Aug 8, 2028 COMPUTED PRIMARY, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August (MCL 168.641(1)(b)).
- Fri Oct 27, 2028, 4:00 p.m. COMPUTED write-in declaration of intent for the general (MCL 168.737a).
- Tue Nov 7, 2028 COMPUTED GENERAL ELECTION (MCL 168.641(1)(c)).
Michigan does hold odd-year elections, but only where a city or village charter puts its offices there, and no county office is ever on an odd-year ballot. The Affidavit of Identity is filed with your petitions and a defect in it -- including unresolved campaign-finance late-filing fees -- removes you from the ballot rather than merely delaying you.
The 2026 dates come from the Michigan Secretary of State's published election-dates calendar, read on 2026-08-20. Michigan has published no 2027 or 2028 calendar, so those dates are arithmetic from the Michigan Election Law; the same arithmetic reproduces the published 2026 dates exactly. Confirm anything you rely on with your county clerk.
Offices on the ballot in Alger County.
Michigan county offices are not all elected in the same year, which trips up a lot of first-time candidates. The county row offices were on the 2026 ballot and are next up in 2030. County commissioners moved from two-year to four-year terms starting with the 2024 election, so they are elected in presidential years and are next up in 2028 — they were not on the 2026 ballot at all. These were the county seats on the 2026 ballot:
- County Clerk (four-year term, next up in 2030)
- County Treasurer (four-year term, next up in 2030)
- Register of Deeds (four-year term, next up in 2030)
- Sheriff (four-year term, next up in 2030)
- Prosecuting Attorney (four-year term, next up in 2030)
- Drain Commissioner, where the county elects one (four-year term, next up in 2030)
- County Commission — NOT on the 2026 ballot. Four-year terms since 2024, elected in presidential years, next up in 2028
- Statewide and legislative seats on the same ballot: Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, U.S. Senate, all 13 U.S. House seats, the entire Michigan House (110 seats) and Michigan Senate (38 seats)
Which seats appear on your county's ballot, and whether your county elects a drain commissioner at all, varies. Your county clerk holds the official list.
How to get on the ballot.
Michigan gives party candidates a choice: collect signatures, or write a cheque. Candidates running with no party affiliation must collect signatures and cannot pay the fee instead.
Option 1: Pay the $100 filing fee.
Partisan candidates for county offices, county commission districts, State Senator and State Representative may pay a flat $100 filing fee instead of circulating nominating petitions. It is the same $100 whatever the office and whatever the county, and it is non-refundable.
- Filed with your county clerk, together with your Affidavit of Identity, by the April filing deadline.
- Available only to candidates running with a party. Candidates with no party affiliation may not use it.
- This is the route most first-time county candidates take, because it removes the signature question entirely.
The fee does not replace the Affidavit of Identity, which every candidate files. It is notarised, and it includes a statement that your campaign finance filings are up to date.
Option 2: Circulate nominating petitions.
Signature requirements are set by the population of the area the office covers, not by a percentage of anything. Michigan publishes the whole scale in statute, and for a countywide office it is your county's population that decides which row applies:
- Under 10,000 people: 3 to 10 signatures. 10,000-24,999: 20 to 50. 25,000-49,999: 50 to 100.
- 50,000-74,999: 100 to 200. 75,000-99,999: 200 to 400. 100,000-199,999: 300 to 500.
- 200,000-499,999: 500 to 1,000. 500,000-999,999: 1,000 to 2,000. 1,000,000-1,999,999: 2,000 to 4,000.
- 2,000,000-4,999,999: 4,000 to 8,000. Statewide: 15,000 to 30,000.
- Signers must be registered voters in the district the office covers. The maximum matters as much as the minimum — filing more than the top of the range is not allowed.
Collect comfortably more than the minimum. Signatures get struck for the ordinary reasons: the signer was not registered, the address was wrong, someone signed twice. Petitions must be on 8.5 by 14 inch paper in the format the statute sets out, so use your clerk's template rather than making your own.
Running with no party affiliation.
Candidates without a party skip the August primary and go straight onto the November ballot, but only by petition. The signature counts are roughly triple the partisan ones for the same population band, and signatures must be collected within the 180 days before you file.
- Under 10,000 people: 9 to 30 signatures. 25,000-49,999: 150 to 300. 100,000-199,999: 900 to 1,500.
- 500,000-999,999: 3,000 to 6,000. 1,000,000-1,999,999: 6,000 to 12,000.
- Deadline is the 110th day before the general election, not the April date — in 2026 that was July 16.
The $100 fee is not available on this route. Signatures are the only way onto the ballot without a party.
Statutory references: MCL 168.544f (signature scale) · MCL 168.544c (petition form and paper size) · MCL 168.163 ($100 in lieu of petitions) · MCL 168.590c and 168.590h (qualifying petitions) · MCL 168.552 (signature challenges). Fees and signature counts change; confirm before you file.
The Alger County Clerk.
For a county race this is where you file, and it is the office that answers the questions this page cannot: which seats are on your ballot, which district you live in, and what the petition form looks like.
- Office
- 101 Court Street, Munising, MI 49862
- Phone
- (906) 387-7067
Contact details verified 2026-08-11. Official statewide sources: Michigan Bureau of Elections — Ballot Access · Michigan election dates · Find your clerk (Michigan Voter Information Center).
Common questions.
When is the filing deadline for county office in Alger County?
For the 2026 cycle it was 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, filed with the Alger County Clerk. That window has closed. Michigan's county row offices — clerk, treasurer, register of deeds, sheriff, prosecuting attorney — are next on the ballot in 2030, and Alger County commission seats are next up in 2028. The filing deadline in those years falls on the same schedule: the fifteenth Tuesday before the August primary.
How much does it cost to run for county office in Alger County?
$100, if you are running with a party and choose the filing fee instead of nominating petitions. It is a flat, non-refundable fee, the same in Alger County as anywhere else in Michigan, and it is paid to the county clerk. If you circulate petitions instead, there is no fee at all. Candidates with no party affiliation must petition and cannot pay the fee.
How many signatures do I need to get on the ballot in Alger County?
It depends on the population of the area the office covers, not on a percentage. For a countywide office in Alger County, your county's population sets the band — the scale runs from 3 signatures for areas under 10,000 people up to 4,000 for the largest counties, with a maximum as well as a minimum. Candidates with no party affiliation need roughly three times as many. The Alger County Clerk will tell you the exact figure for the seat you want, and it is worth asking rather than estimating.
Where is the Alger County election office?
The Alger County Clerk's office handles candidate filing and elections for Alger County. The address, phone number and website are on this page, verified against the county's own site.
Do I have to win a primary to run for county office in Alger County?
If you run with a party, yes — party candidates are nominated at the August primary and the winners go on to the November general election. If you run with no party affiliation you skip the primary entirely and appear only on the November ballot, but you must qualify by petition and file by the earlier July deadline.
How many registered voters are in Alger County?
The current figure from the official Michigan voter file is shown at the top of this page, along with how Alger County voted in the last presidential election. Those are the two numbers most first-time candidates want before they decide whether a race is winnable.
After you qualify: the field operation.
Michigan's filing paperwork is the easy part, and it is over quickly. What decides a county race is the months after it: working out which precincts actually turn out, recruiting enough volunteers to cover them, and knocking doors in an order that makes sense.
That is the part Motion51 was built for. You scope your district, cut turf, and send volunteers out with a phone instead of a clipboard. It works offline, so canvassing does not stop where the cell signal does, and every door is logged with a timestamp for your records. Our For Candidates page walks through what that looks like.
Counties next to Alger.
Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.