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    • Michigan polls are open. What do you need to vote?
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    Michigan polls are open. What do you need to vote?

    Sakege Posted on

    When polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday in Michigan, the final counting of absentee votes also begins, one of the key elements that has delayed election results in the swing state for most of the election cycle.

    Absentee ballots for all voters, except military and overseas voters, must be received by your local clerk by 8 p.m. Absentee ballots for military and overseas voters must be postmarked on Election Day and received within six days after the election.

    Is identification required to vote?

    Michigan voters who possess a photo ID must present it at the polls. Acceptable forms of photo identification include a driver’s license, a state identification card issued by Michigan or another state, an identification issued by the federal, state, county or local government, a U.S. passport, a military identification card, a student identification card from an educational institution. , a tribal identification card or a concealed pistol license.

    Voters without a photo ID can cast their ballot after signing affidavits declaring that they do not have a photo ID.

    Same-day voter registration

    Under Michigan law, unregistered residents can register to vote Tuesday in person at their city or township clerk’s office before 8 p.m. After registering, a resident casts an absentee ballot at the clerk’s office.

    Requirements include that you must be a resident of Michigan and your city or municipality for at least 30 days; a US citizen; be at least 18 years old; and not serve a jail or prison sentence.

    Accepted proof of residency includes a Michigan driver’s license or state identification card, a current utility bill, bank statement, college or university records, a paycheck or government check, or some other government document.

    What if I don’t know where my electoral district is?

    Michigan voters can find their polling place by visiting the Secretary of State’s Michigan Voter Information. website.

    vote counting

    Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Monday she believed Michigan would have its final unofficial results by noon Wednesday, if not sooner, and expressed confidence in a smoother counting process this year thanks to a new law that allowed employees begin tabulating mail. -in votes last week. Polls close for in-person voting at 8 p.m. in most of Michigan.

    Pre-processing absentee ballots has put the state in an “extremely good position to handle any late-arriving ballots” returned Tuesday, Benson said.

    “This time we will have a much smaller number of those ballots and a much greater capacity to process and tabulate those ballots efficiently, securely and accurately tomorrow,” Benson said Monday.

    “All that being said, we’ll see how things play out, but I’m very optimistic and hopeful that we’ll have those unofficial results sooner than in 2020.”

    Further: Everything you need to know to vote on election day

    The ability to tabulate absentee ballots up to eight days before Tuesday has meant clerks have fewer mail-in ballots to process and tabulate on Election Day; and in-person early voting options mean there will likely be fewer people crowding precincts than if the early voting option were not available.

    By the end of early voting on Sunday, approximately 1.2 million residents had voted at in-person early voting sites across the state. And nearly 2 million people had returned their absentee ballots.

    The 3.2 million voters combined represent about 44% of active registered voters in Michigan and about 58% of the nearly 5.6 million people who voted in the 2020 presidential election. Those early voting results will be among the first posted Tuesday night.

    “You can expect ballots cast at early voting centers and in-person voting precincts tomorrow to be among the first numbers released in those early totals,” Benson said.

    “And you’ll also see, in some cases, ballots that were mailed or dropped off (absentee votes) being included in those totals as well. Those will be the ones that were returned before.”

    Further: Our voter guide: What’s at stake, key races, voting dates

    But even with that early participation, there is still plenty of work left for employees processing absentee ballots on Election Day, which will continue after 8 p.m.

    State rules now allow up to eight days of pre-processing and pre-tabulation of absentee ballots available for large communities before Election Day. Under the new rules, many large communities would be able to process their absentee ballots and tabulate them before Election Day, but results could not be transmitted or reported until after 8 p.m. on Election Day.

    For cities like Detroit, the subsidy meant the state’s largest community was capable of tabulating around 95% of absentee votes is received before Election Day, or about 87,000 or 91,000 absentee votes. The work is expected to shorten what, in 2020, was a lengthy absentee counting process.

    But that doesn’t mean Detroit and other large communities will have their results right at 8 p.m.

    After 8 p.m., officials in Michigan communities must collect absentee ballots delivered Tuesday to various drop boxes, clerks’ offices and satellite clerks’ offices for processing and tabulation. That process can take some time and result in late batches of absentee ballots arriving at counting centers after 8 p.m.

    In Detroit, in particular, another 22,000 absentee ballots are still in circulation and some of them will not be picked up until after 8 p.m. at mailboxes or clerks’ offices.

    Statewide, about 348,000 absentee ballots were still in circulation on Monday and could reach clerks by mail on Tuesday, be delivered in person or dropped off in a mailbox. All of them must be processed during the day on Tuesday or after 8 pm on Tuesday.

    Additionally, the state’s third-largest community, the city of Warren in Macomb County, opted not to pre-process absentee ballots and instead begin the process at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

    The city had a total of nearly 28,000 requested absentee ballots and just over 22,000 returned ballots as of Monday night, according to state data.

    Macomb County, which Trump won in his 2016 and 2020 presidential bids, has been critical to Trump’s vote count each cycle. Additionally, there are several Macomb-based state House races that could decide the majority in the lower chamber.

    —Beth LeBlanc

    Macomb County Racing

    Macomb County voters will also decide the 10th House District race between Republican Rep. John James of Shelby Township and Democrat Carl Marlinga, a former Sterling Heights judge.

    Two years ago, James defeated Marlinga by 1,600 votes, or 0.5 percentage points.

    In the Michigan House of Representatives, Republicans must pick up two statewide seats and hold their current districts to gain the majority. There are two potentially close races in Macomb County: the 13th District between state Rep. Mai Xiong, D-Warren, and Republican Ronald Singer of Warren, and the 58th District between state Rep. Nate Shannon, D-Sterling Heights, and Republican Rum. Robinson of Utica.

    Police were called to the polling place

    On Monday, Warren police said they were called to respond to several reports of disturbances during voting at Warren City Hall. Officers were called to City Hall around 4:20 p.m., they said.

    Police said callers reported about 20 people were upset about a voting problem at City Hall. Officers arrived, found no active disturbance, and spoke with the City Clerk and her staff.

    Poll workers told police that a woman became upset after being told she would not be able to vote because the polls closed at 4 p.m. They told police he left before officers arrived, according to authorities. No arrests were made or citations issued as officers cleared the scene a short time later.

    Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday it will send representatives to the polls in 27 states, including Michigan, to monitor Tuesday’s general election.

    Voting monitors

    Federal officials will visit precincts in Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Flint, Detroit, Hamtramck and Warren. Justice Department spokeswoman Aryele Bradford declined to comment on how the Michigan communities were chosen.

    On Monday, officials with the Detroit branch of the NAACP said they had set up a hotline to help voters with questions and report any signs of election irregularities. The hotline (313) 664-2424 will operate as long as the polls are open.

    — Carlos E. Ramirez

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