Absentee returns up ahead of Michigan's COVID-19-curbed elections

Participation in Tuesday’s election is up from past Michigan May elections, according to absentee ballot returns in several cities. 

The increased absentee ballot returns ahead of the Tuesday election, which is being conducted largely through mail, occurs as the state continues to grapple with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Municipalities in 34 counties will hold elections Tuesday for school millage proposals or small local elections.  

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, following an executive order from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, mailed absentee ballot applications last month to every registered voter in those communities, likely increasing participation this year, clerks said.  

Whitmer’s March 27 executive order also required clerks to condense voting precincts into one that could be used by voters who needed assistance voting or were unable to do so by mail. Clerks are planning to implement safety protocols to ensure voters keep appropriate distances at the polling location. 

“The fewer people we have lining up at polling places the better, ensuring Michiganders safely practice social distancing while allowing them to safely exercise their right to vote in local elections,” Whitmer said in a statement.

Republican legislative leaders had pushed back on Whitmer's order, arguing that elections should be delayed or canceled instead. 

Sen. Ruth Johnson, a Holly Republican who is a former Michigan secretary of state, said she was "disappointed" in the order and what it might mean for election workers who typically are seniors more vulnerable to the virus. 

Benson gave each community the opportunity to delay their ballot questions to a later election and several did, the Detroit Democrat said Saturday in a Detroit News opinion piece.

By Thursday, the mailed absentee ballots and additional trained volunteers had already driven absentee turnout to 17% of registered voters, ahead of a previous May record of 14% turnout, Benson said. 

"This demonstrates that voters are easily receiving and returning their ballots, weighing in on critical local issues, without leaving their home," Benson said. "Further, it shows that even during times of great uncertainty, we can work together across the state to ensure that democracy marches on."

The Warren clerk’s office had received roughly 3,100 absentee ballots back as of Monday morning for a millage renewal for Warren Woods Public Schools. 

The returns were more than double what was received by school district voters for a Macomb Community College millage renewal in 2018, said city clerk Sonja Buffa.  

On Tuesday, Buffa plans to have anyone voting in person call the clerk’s office upon arrival. Workers will then escort the individual into the building where they’ll vote through an Express Vote machine. 

Buffa’s office has placed tape on the floor of the office to ensure proper spacing between voters waiting in line, but she doesn’t anticipate having more than 10 voters in the office at once. 

Benson sent Buffa’s staff masks, sanitizer, wipes and window barriers for the election, and Buffa plans to equip each voter with a mask. 

Normally, May elections in the northern Michigan community of Charlevoix average about 300 voters total, but absentee ballot totals were nearly double that as of Monday morning, with 590 ballots returned, said city clerk Joyce Golding.

“It’s an incredible amount compared to last May; it’s skyrocketed,” Golding said, attributing the increase to the mailed absentee applications. 

The area has two millage renewals and one millage increase on Tuesday's ballot.

Folks who failed to vote by mail can vote absentee in-person Tuesday, Goldings said.

Garden City will hold Wayne County’s only election Tuesday for a millage proposal benefiting Garden City Public Schools. The city’s combined precinct will be at city hall, where in-person voters also will be given an absentee ballot, said Matthew Miller, the city’s clerk. 

“We’ve put in place social distancing measures, and we will be limiting the number of people in the building,” Miller said.

Of the more than 5,1000 ballots the city has issued, 3,212 have been returned, Miller said. The last similar May election in 2009 drew 1,083 voters. 

In Grand Blanc Township, officials had received back about 6,500 absentee ballots making the vote total so far similar to general turnout in other May elections, said Clerk Cathy Lane. 

Individuals who vote in-person at the township hall should adhere to social distancing and will be required to wear masks, Lane said. Voters on Tuesday will be given absentee ballots. 

“It will be a new experience for us all to have so many applications and absentee ballots,” Lane said.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com