Michigan election gave communities more time to handle absentee ballots

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan’s presidential primary was the first time that communities in the state had the ability to count absentee ballots days before the Tuesday election.

Absentee voting is a popular way to participate in Michigan since eligibility rules were greatly eased in 2018. But it took another change in law in 2023 to give local clerks more time to handle the flood of envelopes.

Many cities and townships now can run absentee ballots through tabulator machines starting eight days before the election. No results could be publicly released, however, until after 8 p.m. Tuesday.

“That took a lot of the burden off Election Day tabulation of absentee ballots,” said Michael Siegrist, the clerk in Wayne County’s Canton Township. “Michigan had been held hostage by antiquated laws and procedures.”

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He said 10,000 of Canton’s 11,000 absentee