Michigan Absentee Voting Up 43% Compared To 2014: Report

On the eve of the 2018 General Election in Michigan, almost a million Michigan voters -- 13 percent of registered voters -- have handed in absentee ballots so far, according to numbers released today by the Michigan Secretary of State's office.

That's up 43 percent from the day before 2014 election, the last time the state voted for governor.

Absentee ballots are available until 4 p.m. today, Nov. 5, at city and township clerk offices. At this point, the ballots must be filled out and returned on the spot. Voters who already obtained an absentee ballot have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to return it to their city or township clerk's office.

In Michigan, absentee ballot is generally limited to voters who are age 60 and older, disabled or out of town on Election Day.

Michigan's local election clerks have sent out 1,211,610 million absentee ballots and have received back 993,541 completed ballots as of Monday morning, the state numbers show.

This most recent data seems to confirm Michigan will experience a record turnout this year for a gubernatorial election, but it will still be below the voter turnout in a presidential year,MLive reported.

About 3.2 million voted in 2014. The turnout record for an gubernatorial election was set in 2006, when 3.85 million Michigan voters went to the polls. Almost 5 million voted in 2016.

Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Michigan.

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