GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — After the first weekend of early in-person voting in Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says Michigan voters made history with a high turnout for the general election.
“In the first two days of early statewide voting, more than 250,000 citizens made their voices heard — a number that far exceeded the expectations of state and local election officials,” Benson said.
She said that while the turnout was a surprise, clerks across the state were prepared and early in-person voting was a smooth process.
By law, early in-person voting in Michigan must run for at least nine consecutive days before an election, wrapping up on the Sunday before Election Day, Nov. 5.
“This is the very first year in our state’s history with in-person early voting, and our bipartisan election officials rose to meet the moment,” she said.
Benson acknowledged that the turnout this election means that voters are embracing early in-person voting.
“In the February presidential primary, the total turnout for all nine days of early voting was 79,000. And for the August primary, we had about 73,000 folks participate in early in-person voting. Before this weekend, the record for the highest early voting turnout in a single day was just over 11,000 voters. And on Saturday, we had more than 145,000 (voters) turnout statewide,” she said.
In Kent County, almost 21,000 voters who cast their ballot did so on Saturday and Sunday, Benson said.
Wyoming City Clerk Kelli VandenBerg said early voting participation in the Grand Rapids suburb “has been huge” so far this election season.
“Probably beyond our expectations. And absentee ballots are tracking really high, as well. So I’m really pleased to see the level of participation,” she said.
The other option for voting ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5 is absentee voting. As of Monday morning, more than 1.5 million voters had returned their absentee ballots.
“What that means is more than a quarter of Michigan’s active registered voters, 25%, have already cast their ballot in this November election,” Benson said.
She explained that almost two-thirds of all Michigan voters who cast their ballot by mail were over the age of 60, while 61% of those who have voted early are under the age of 60.
“A large group of those are young voters — 13.5% of early voters are under 30,” she said, adding that more early voters are women.
Monday was the first day that many jurisdictions can begin preprocessing absentee ballots.
“When Michigan citizens passed Proposal 2 in 2020, it included an option for clerks to start processing those ballots voted at home before Election Day. Jurisdictions with more than 5,000 residents can have up to eight days of preprocessing, and every jurisdiction in Michigan has the option for an extra day,” Benson explained.
For the 2024 general election, Benson said that 245 jurisdictions will start processing those ballots before Election Day.
“It’s important to remember that while those ballots will be run through the tabulator, results will not be generated or (be) visible until after the polls close at 8 p.m. on election night,” she said.
Early in-person voting continues through Sunday. Find your early in-person voting location here. Those who still have their absentee ballots should hand-deliver them to the clerk’s office or a secure local ballot drop box in your jurisdiction to avoid postal delays, Benson said.
“It’s a marathon versus a sprint, for sure,” Wyoming Clerk VandenBerg said of the election after the addition of early voting periods, noting that “a lot of the work is the same, but the scale is completely different.”
She said her office relies on volunteers to reach the finish line.
“We have a staff of six at the Wyoming City Clerk’s Office and we have more than 200 volunteers that help us pull off early voting, absentee voting and Election Day. I always kind of joke that they are the backbone of democracy, and it’s absolutely true,” VandenBerg said.
