Modest turnout for early voting sets the stage for future elections
NORTHERN MICHIGAN — Michigan's presidential primary election marked the first time that early voting was implemented, and local clerks in Northern Michigan reported a small number of people made use of the new option.
Early voting was made available for nine days prior to Tuesday's election. On average, numbers in a few counties show about 20 people voted early per day.
In Charlevoix County, 179 people took advantage of the opportunity. In Emmet County, 249 chose to vote early. In Chippewa County, 164 individuals voted early. In Cheboygan County, 154 people voted early.
More: Around 1 in 4 Northern Michigan voters turned out for election
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Despite the resources needed to accommodate the early voting and the minimal turnout, many of the county clerks felt the learning experience was successful in preparation for the general election in the fall.
“I'm happy we had the amount of people we did because it was more people that got to see it first-hand. The Election Day program we are using is a little bit different, so it gave us an opportunity to learn it and have them be excited to help next time because they know what the process is,” said Charlevoix County Clerk Julia Drost.
Most counties in Northern Michigan opted to have one centralized early voting location, with each township, city or other municipal entity working together during the nine-day period.
Since primary elections tend to have a smaller turnout than general elections, Drost said she doesn't believe that early voting helped alleviate congestion on Election Day.
“Maybe in August and November we might see a little bit more of a help as far as taking away from Election Day traffic," she said. "But nobody was that busy during early voting. Hopefully going forward, we see it take a little bit of the edge off and cut down on some lines in some of the busier precincts."
Charlevoix County had at least two early voters from each of their 20 precincts. The only exception were the two Beaver Island townships, as voters would have had to fly over to the mainland to vote at the county's one early voting location.
Emmet County Clerk Suzie Kanine said she had expected a low turnout during early voting because of its newness in addition to many of the county population voting from out-of-state in February.
“Typically, in a presidential primary we only get a 30 percent turnout anyway,” said Kanine.
Despite this, she said the early voting process went relatively smoothly.
“It was a great run–through for August and November,” Kanine said. “I would encourage the community to take advantage of it because we are stuck with it ... we have to provide it ... for the resources to be put to good use I would like to see people coming and voting early so that the resources that we are putting into it can be meaningful."
Cheboygan County Clerk Karen Brewster noted that the people who participated in early voting were happy that it was available.
“I didn’t really hear any disappointments,” she said, “but, it was a lot of work.”
— Contact reporter Annie Doyle at (231) 675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoix.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Modest turnout for early voting in Northern Michigan sets the stage for future elections
