GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — It's been a long road - but the end is finally in sight— We're officially one week away from election day!
Already more than 43 Million Americans have cast their ballots early, either in person or by mail.
Today, the City of Grand Rapids starts a new step in the election process.
The Grand Rapids City Clerk tells us that election officials will begin pre-processing absentee ballots Tuesday.
The window to pre-process mail-in ballots officially opened Monday, meaning any city or township with a population of at least 5,000 will be able to start tabulating mail-in votes before election day.
Results won't be released until election day, however, so neither candidate will be able to claim a lead in Michigan.
The process will hopefully save time on election night, as Michigan is seeing record numbers for both mail-in ballots and early in-person voting.
“While we were surprised by the large turnout, it was a very pleasant surprise,” Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson told FOX 17 on the day early voting started. “Clerks were well prepared. The processes and systems that they had in place ran smoothly. And overall, Michigan's first day of voting in a general election was a huge success.”
Local News
Secretary of State Benson talks about massive turnout for early in-person voting
Over 260,000 votes across our state have already been tabulated during early in-person voting but more than 1.5 million Michiganders mailed-in their ballot.
The process is done in the same manner as tabulations on election night, in order to preserve the security of each vote.
The latest election news is on FOX 17
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
