Detroit Evening Report: Early in-person voting kicks off in Michigan

Early in-person voting started in Detroit on Saturday, with residents now able to vote at several recreation centers, churches, Wayne County Community District locations and at the City Clerk’s office between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Canton Township and East Lansing started early voting on Monday, and other municipalities across the state will begin offering early in-person voting beginning on Saturday, Oct. 26. 

This is the first year Michigan has had early voting for all state and federal elections, after voters passed a 2022 ballot measure that enshrined several new voting rights into the state Constitution.

Those rights include at least nine days of early voting (as well as the ability to be placed on a permanent absentee voter list, prepaid ballot postage and a state-funded ballot tracking notification system, and more.)

That means Michiganders now have three ways to vote:

• Absentee voting, with ballots available up to 40 days before the election
• In-person early voting, available statewide Saturday, Oct. 26
• In-person on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5

What’s the difference between early voting and absentee?

Both options allow you to cast a vote before Election Day. Early voting is closer to the experience of voting on Election Day. You’ll enter a polling location, check in, be given a ballot, complete that ballot on site, and can then personally put your ballot into the tabulator at your polling place.

Absentee voting gives you the option to vote from home, and absentee ballots are available up to 40 days before an election. You can request an absentee ballot online, in person, or through the mail. Then you can submit it to your local clerk’s office through the mail, at a secure drop box, or a polling site.

The Secretary of State’s office recommends “using the secure drop box or a polling place if you are returning a ballot within two weeks of election day, in order to avoid possible postal delays.”

You can also track your absentee ballot by entering your information here.

Nearly one million absentee ballots have been returned already, according to the state’s voting dashboard, with 13% of all active registered voters having cast their ballots.

For early voting centers and drop box locations in Detroit, visit detroitvotes.org. For the latest election information, visit WDET’s Voter Guide at wdet.org/voterguide.

Reporting by Kate Wells, Michigan Public.

Other headlines for Monday, Oct. 21, 2024:

• Vice President Kamala Harris returned to Oakland County on Monday, after campaigning there Friday. She visited Birmingham with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, a staunch critic of former president Donald Trump. Both Harris and Trump are courting suburban women, Black men and union workers.
• The Michigan Energy Assistance Program provides low-income households with help with weatherization, energy conservation services and access to affordable energy payment plans. For information and to apply contact the Wayne Metro Connect Center at 313-388-9799, by email at wmconnect@waynemetro.org or through their website, waynemetro.org. 
• Emergency Preparedness 101 is being offered from 6-7:30 p.m. this Thursday at Ark of Deliverance as a part of Council Member Gabrielle Santiago- Romero’s Building Power Training Series. 
• Palmer Park will host Scarefest 2024 from 6-10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, offering a Zombie Trail of Horror, rides, face painting, food trucks and more. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.