1.2M cast early, in-person ballots in Michigan ahead of Election Day

Lansing — About 1.2 million people voted at early, in-person voting sites across Michigan in the first presidential election where the state constitution allowed for the voting option.

The number of Michigan voters — updated by the Secretary of State’s office early Monday morning after the conclusion of early, in-person voting — represent more than one-fifth of the total who cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election. When the 1.98 million absentee ballots received as of Sunday night are added, the total number of early voters moves to about 3.2 million, or nearly 44% of active registered voters in Michigan.

The total number of early voters so far is on par with 2020, when roughly 3.2 million people voted absentee ballots during the pandemic. A total of nearly 5.6 million voted in that presidential election.

A constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2022 requires all clerks to offer at least nine days of early, in-person voting ahead of Election Day, a mandate that resulted in the majority of communities offering early voting from Saturday, Oct. 26 through Sunday. Three communities opted to open voting centers earlier: Detroit, Canton Township and East Lansing.

Some of the highest numbers of early, in-person voters turned out in Detroit, with a final tally of 42,902 people voting sites in the state’s largest city. Additionally, Detroit has received back about 89,000 of roughly 109,000 absentee ballots sent, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

“We knew they would be eager for it,” Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey said Sunday of early, in-person voting. “This is our first year doing it in Detroit. It started out slow — you know, the presidential primary, was slow — but I am so pleased with turnout.”

Winfrey said lines for early voting topped out at about an hour and 10 minutes, but voters weren’t deterred by the wait.

“It’s impressive to see,” Winfrey said. “Everybody’s energy is high. Nobody’s mad about being in line. And that’s the part that I’m thankful for.”

Rural turnout

Chris Ferguson was among the more than 1.2 million who cast a ballot in-person at an early voting site in Shiawassee County. The 59-year-old Owosso teacher stopped at Owosso City Hall on Sunday to cast a ballot while running errands.

Ferguson said she likely could have made time Tuesday to cast her ballot but decided to stop by on a day when she had less on her plate.

“Everybody that I know has voted early,” Ferguson said. “They just thought it was so nice, no pressure, convenient. I’m on my way to the grocery store and then I’m going to go home and rake leaves.”

Owosso City Clerk Amy Kirkland said Sunday afternoon that her office saw a marked uptick in early, in-person voters compared to the August primary.

“Our traffic has really picked up,” Kirkland said. “In August, we had 100 voters over nine days. The last time I checked downstairs, we had over 1,300 for this election. Early voting seems to have really caught on.”

The mid-Michigan city, which has about 12,200 registered voters, also issued about 2,500 absentee ballots, Kirkland said. She expects the use of early, in-person options to increase as more people learn of the option.

“I actually like early voting and, if it continues to grow the way I think it will, we may actually be able to cut down on our costs on Election Day,” Kirkland said.

In the northeast Lower Peninsula, Alpena Township Clerk Michele Palevich said Sunday that roughly 2,000 people have circulated through an early voting site the township is operating with the city of Alpena.

She was pleased with the early, in-person turnout, which was much steadier than the trickle the township saw in August. On one of the nine days of early voting in August, a total of six people visited the early voting site, she said.

“This is the first election where I’ve really seen the benefit of it, where we’re getting a good turnout,” Palevich said. “When we’re getting a good turnout, it feels beneficial. But when we’re getting days with just six voters, it doesn’t feel that beneficial.”

In southern Livingston County, Kristina Behm made good time Saturday getting through the line at her Putnam Township early voting center.

“It’s kind of nice to just get it done over the weekend and then you don’t have to go before work or after work or whatever,” said Behm, 31. “It’s great for people who have lives and things happen.”

Urban and suburban use

At Lansing’s Reo Road voting center Saturday afternoon, voters waited about 20 minutes to fill out their ballots — part of a steady stream of voters the city has seen over the nine days of early voting, City Clerk Chris Swope said. The capital city also had a second early voting site at Foster Community Center.

The city was one of several pilot communities to roll out early, in-person voting sooner than the rest of the state. Lansing offered some period of early voting ahead of its November 2023 election, the presidential primary in February, a city election in May and the August primary.

Early, in-person voting numbers were much smaller in those earlier elections, which typically have lower turnout than a presidential election, Swope said.

“It was really great to see it catch on and see voters coming out,” Swope said. “And it’s really just people coming all day long.”

In Kent County, each jurisdiction ran its own early voting centers, with Grand Rapids hosting four within the city alone, said Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons. Countywide, about 96,265 early, in-person votes were cast within Kent County, she said.

Lyons said she was relieved to see the early, in-person voting centers used after attendance was underwhelming in the February presidential primary and August primary. Participation in the county’s first day of early voting on Oct. 26 was double the February and August early, in-person voting tallies together, she said.

“I think early voting in Michigan has proven to work and proven to be secure,” Lyons said Sunday. “And the voters have proven that they are interested in it.”

Lyons said Kent County’s absentee numbers are down from 2020, but it’s hard to tell just yet if that’s an effect of the pandemic or voters shifting from absentee to early, in-person. Until a better trend is established, it’s difficult anticipate how each voting option will be utilized, she said.

“Things went smoothly, but we had lines,” Lyons said. “Not knowing where the baseline would be with this being our first large turnout election with early voting, we didn’t know what to expect.”

West Michigan wasn’t the only region experiencing lines at it’s early, in-person voting centers.

In DeWitt, 23-year-old Brayden Shaw walked into the city’s early voting site around noon only to walk back out again after seeing the line. Voters leaving the voting site said they had waited about an hour and 10 minutes in line.

Shaw said he planned to return later in the day or early Tuesday to cast his ballot. He said, next time, he may find a weekday to vote.

“I think it’s smart to cut down on lines on Election Day,” Shaw said. “But I think everyone has the same mindset to try and vote early because they think it’s going to be shorter lines. And then that just causes a backup.”

eleblanc@detroitnews.com