Last day to early vote is Sunday, Aug. 4

Tuesday, Aug. 6, Northern Michigan voters will weigh in on a host of important local issues, as well as picking their candidates for the November general election.

But thousands have already cast their votes in-person, taking advantage of the state’s new early voting process.

Nearly 60% of Michigan voters approved Proposal Two in 2022, which added the requirement of nine days of early in-person voting to the state constitution.

Some clerks say they’re hopeful the popularity of early voting increases with public awareness - especially in larger communities, spreading the voting process over several days can ease the election day crunch.

“I expect that each time we do this, we will get a little busier with it,” said Charlevoix County clerk Julia Drost. “I do expect it’ll catch on. And the more the public is aware that we’ll just we’ll continue to get busier and busier for it. That’s my hope anyway.”

According to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the first weekend of early voting saw more than 10,000 votes cast statewide.

That figure pales in comparison to absentee voting.

As of Monday afternoon, around 700,000 voters had returned absentee ballots. That’s out of 1.6 million requested.

“Any citizen who requested an absentee ballot does have the option to return them to an early voting site, if they don’t want to return it at a dropbox,” Benson said Monday. “At this point we would not advise anyone to use the mail to return their ballot if they have not yet done so — please bring it to an early voting site.”

The last day of early voting is Sunday, Aug. 4.

Polling places are required to be open for at least eight hours a day through the weekend. You can also return an absentee ballot to an early voting site.

More information on voting options can be found with the Michigan Secretary of State.

If you’ve recently moved or are unsure where you’re registered to vote, you can also check your registration status and election day polling location.

And if you’re not yet registered, you’ll be able to do so in-person with your local clerk until 8 p.m. on election day.