Election 2024: Nearly 2.2 million Michigan voters have cast ballots so far

Nearly 2.2 million voters have already voted in Michigan, either in person or via an absentee ballot
Of the total, 1.6 million have voted absentee
Another 505,700 have cast ballots at early voting locations

Nearly 2.2 million Michigan voters have already cast ballots, including a half-million voters who have taken advantage of the state’s new in-person early voting.

The Michigan Secretary of State office announced the totals Wednesday, reporting that over 1.6 million have returned absentee ballots and nearly 505,700 have voted early.

Last Saturday was the first day of mandatory in-person early voting, approved by voters in 2022.

Michigan set a record for absentee voting in 2020, the first election after voters adopted “no-reason” absentee balloting and during the COVID-19 pandemic when Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson sent an absentee ballot application to every voter.

More than half of all voters in 2020, 3.2 million out of 5.57 million cast, voted absentee.

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But then, former President Donald Trump was disparaging absentee voting, calling it unsafe and millions fewer of his supporters voted absentee.

Two days after polls closed, Trump demanded that vote counting stop as some states were still processing mail-in ballots.

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Now, Trump and Republican leaders have urged voters to take advantage of early and absentee voting and it appears Republicans have grown more comfortable with it.

A review of municipal-level returns reported by the state, 115 communities have received more absentee ballots than they had at the same point before the 2020 election.

Almost all are in heavily Republican parts of the state.

In Leoni Township in Jackson County, for instance, 2,170 voters have returned an absentee ballot so far, up from 1,747 in 2020. The township east of Jackson gave Trump a 62%-36% victory in 2020.

Those totals do not show how many have voted early in-person. In the August primary, Republicans were slightly more likely to vote early in person than Democrats.

All votes count equally, however, whether cast early in person, via absentee or on Election Day. Campaigns have encouraged early voting so they can focus political resources on those who haven’t yet voted.

All told, 2.3 million voters have requested an absentee ballot. To count, the completed ballot must be returned to a voter’s local clerk by 8 p.m. on Nov. 5 and they can be submitted by mail, at a drop box or hand delivered.

Early voting ends on Sunday. To find out where and when you can vote in person and early, check here.

Statewide, absentee ballot returns — 1.6 million — are running at about 76% of the 2.1 million returns submitted a week before the 2020 election.