Meridian Township to pre-process absentee ballots

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Meridian Township will pre-process absentee voter ballots on Monday, Aug. 5, the day before Election Day, the township clerk’s office announced Monday.

State law allows the board of election commissioners of a city or township with a population of at least 5,000 to authorize the processing of absentee ballots between 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. within eight days before Election Day. These ballots must be processed and tabulated in the same manner and under the same requirements as they are on Election Day.

These ballots will be processed at the community center located at 2630 Bennett Road, Okemos, MI, 48864.

“The purpose of pre-processing is to streamline the absentee ballot counting process. The high volume of absent voters since 2018 has led to longer ballot processing times for local clerks,” stated Meridian Township Clerk Deborah Guthrie.

Ahead of the 2018 presidential primary election, the Meridian Township Clerk’s Office received around 3,300 ballots. During Michigan’s 2024 presidential primary, the office received over 7,000 absentee ballots.

As of Monday, the Clerk’s Office has issued almost 12,000 absentee ballots and received almost 4,000 returned by voters.

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