What to know about absentee, early voting ahead of Nov. 5 election

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — As the November presidential election approaches, here’s what you should know about registration, absentee voting and early in-person voting in Michigan.

To vote, you must first be registered. You can visit michigan.gov/vote to check your registration status.

If you’re not registered and you have 15 days or more before the election, you can register online, by mail or in person. But if you’re within 14 days of the election, you’ll have to register in person by visiting your local clerk’s office.

“Michigan is a same-day voter registration state. So that means our voters can go and they can register at any point up until the election,” Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons said. “We always want to encourage voters to register way in advance, but if you’re one of those procrastinators … you can go to your local clerk’s office any time from 14 days up through Election Day.”

VOTING ABSENTEE

Absentee ballots have already started going out in Michigan. In a Sept. 26 news conference, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said more than 1.8 million people had requested a ballot, including about 1.6 million voters on the state’s permanent absentee ballot list.

If you’re not on the list, you can still vote absentee, Posthumus Lyons told News 8. You’ll need to fill out an application, sign it and send it to your local clerk’s office, where officials will compare your signature with the signature they have on file for you. If the two match, you will be sent an absentee ballot.

Once you fill out your ballot, you’ll need to sign the back of the envelope. As in the application process, the clerk’s office will compare your signature with what’s on file. The clerk will notify you promptly if they don’t match.

If you have voted with plenty of time before Election Day, you can return your absentee ballot by mail, put it in a secure drop box or bring it to your clerk’s office. But the closer you get to Election Day, the fewer options you have.

“If you get down to the wire where we’re a week or 10 days before the election, I always recommend that you drop it off in person or put in a secure absentee ballot drop box,” Posthumus Lyons said.

Ballots must be received by 8 p.m. Election Day, when the polls close.

Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck told News 8 that absentee voting isn’t new, but it has grown since voters in 2018 approved no-reason absentee voting . He said it’s a popular option because of its convenience.

“Absentee voting has expanded and given Michigan voters a lot more choice,” he said.

Roebuck explained that the law has changed to allow for early tabulation of absentee votes, but not their release .

“Very important to note that we’re not releasing any results,” he said. “…Effectively, it helps the process significantly in terms of getting those results in a timely fashion. It allows us to be ready to release results.”

VOTING EARLY

Early in-person voting is a relatively new option in Michigan. Voters approved a ballot initiative requiring it in November 2022. County clerks say that so far, early voting turnout has been low .

“I don’t think the numbers really could get lower. Early voting is a lot of effort, it’s a lot of expense and we really didn’t see a lot of participation,” Posthumus Lyons said. “Of the people who participated in the August election, only 3% of them utilized early voting as their method.”

But she expects the numbers to rise with time.

“I can only imagine that as time goes on, as this becomes more of a regular part of our election process, you’re going to start seeing many more voters utilize the method,” she said.

Communities must offer early in-person voting for at least nine consecutive days, wrapping up on the Sunday before the election. However, each county can decide how it wants to conduct early voting.

In Kent County, each jurisdiction will operate its own early voting sites. To vote early, you’ll need to visit a location in the jurisdiction where you’re registered to vote.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa County, there will be four early voting centers spread across the county. Any Ottawa County voter can visit any of the four sites to vote early.

To view a sample ballot, find your polling place and much more, you can visit the Michigan Voter Information Center at michigan.gov/vote .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.