MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Thousands of absentee voters were mistakenly sent instructions on how to vote a straight-party ticket even though that's not an option in next month's Michigan election.

The Lansing State Journal reports Meridian Township Clerk Brett Dreyfus says about 5,000 ballots were sent before the problem was discovered. Dreyfus blamed a vendor for sending incorrect instructions but acknowledged his office should have caught it before mailing absentee ballots in the Lansing-area community.

The township noted the error in a posting on its website .

A federal appeals court last month revived Michigan's ban on straight-party voting . Voters must go line by line if they want to vote for candidates in partisan races. In the past, a single mark could automatically count for candidates of a single party, from governor to county commissioner.