Don’t expect complete results on election night, state says after nearly 1M absentee ballots cast

Nearly 1 million Michigan voters have mailed in or dropped off their ballots ahead of the primary election, and it could take clerks days to count results because of state law.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Wednesday clerks are prepared for Election Day, but that because Michigan law won’t allow early processing of the influx of absentee ballots, outcomes in some races may not be determined until well after the election.

“This means in a year where a record number of people will vote by mail, clerks can’t begin counting ballots until the morning of election day,” Benson said. “We are asking for patience. We are alongside other states preparing people not to get results upon the closing of election night.”

She criticized lawmakers for not enacting changes to accommodate the circumstances.

“It’s paramount that we have a law to allow clerks to prepare ballots before election day,” Benson said in a July 29 press conference. “Other states have passed similar legislation. Florida allows clerks to count absentee ballots 22 days before Election Day.”

A week before the election, about 1.97 million absentee ballots were issued and 903,717 have been returned, according to Benson’s office. In the 2016 primary, 546,032 absentee ballots had been issued and 307,253 were cast a week before the election, according to state elections officials.

Benson expects up to 3 million people to request absentee ballots for the November general election.

Related: As Michigan primary draws near, requests for absentee ballots are pouring in

Absentee ballot requests started dramatically rising after the passage of Proposal 3 in 2018, which allows any voter to cast an absentee ballot without providing a reason.

Senate legislation backed by former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, would let workers at absentee counting boards work in shifts and would allow some early processing of absentee ballots ahead of Election Day. The effort earned support at the committee level before Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, shot it down.

Related: Ahead of Michigan primary, Sen. Mike Shirkey shoots down bills to speed up absentee ballots

“I don’t necessarily think we should be trying to solve a problem before it actually occurs,” Shirkey said in February. “If I had to choose between early voting, early counting, versus late reporting, I’ll take late reporting all day long.”

Shirkey later said he was “out in front of” his understanding of Johnson’s bill and that “there’s a good chance that we’ll continue to have conversations with the bill sponsors and…see what happens.”

He added clerks should focus more on recruiting more Election Day workers and bring their own creative solutions to the existing process. Clerks were concerned even before the COVID-19 pandemic that the expected increase in absentee ballots would strain their resources and delay election results.

Related: Michigan Senate leader now open to ‘conversations’ on proposed changes to handle spike in absentee ballots

Clerks’ offices across the state were given funds to aid in the purchase of new ballot-counting machines and personal protective equipment to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, according to Benson. Additionally, the Secretary of State’s office recruited more than 5,000 election workers through the Democracy MVP campaign.

But unless more progress is made in new legislation in the coming days or before November, Bensons says the current numbers show results could be delayed by days to properly process every vote.

“While we have diligently carried out the will of the voters and alongside our clerks have met every challenge thrown our way, the state legislature has passed only one piece of election-related legislation in the last 19 months,” Benson said. “With time running out, I remain hopeful legislative leaders will partner with us to support election workers and voters.”

Voters who have received their absentee ballots are encouraged to fill them out as soon as possible, sign the back of the envelope and drop them off at their local clerk’s office. Local clerk information can be found here.

Read more on MLive:

How absentee ballots are deepening the divide between Michigan Democrats and Republicans

Turn in your primary absentee ballots by hand if you haven’t mailed them yet, clerks advise

Michigan Secretary of State issues 2020 presidential primary candidate list

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.