GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Kent County Clerk sent out three times as many absentee ballots this year as they did during the 2018 primaries and currently estimate mail-in ballots will account for roughly 70% or more of total voter turnout.
In Kent County, there are around 480,000 registered voters. More rural areas experienced higher in-person voting turnout than the more populated areas.
Due to the high number of absentee voting, results could take as long as Wednesday afternoon to report all precincts.
"We need to make sure that we are doing everything that we can to ensure that we are protecting the security and the integrity of the election, and being as efficient as we can to provide results as soon as possible. but we cannot sacrifice security and accuracy for speed,” said Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Kent County Clerk.
In person voting did have safety measures in place, including polling workers wearing masks, having hand sanitizer, and social distancing.
