By David Fleet
Editor
Ortonville — By Monday morning, Dennis and Peg Hoffman had made their choices and voted.
“It’s been that way for us for many years,” said Dennis, a long-time Ortonville resident. “Absentee voting is not only easy but for many years I was on the road and working, so I was not around to vote in person.”
Hoffman joins a growing number of Michigan residents opting to vote early.
With about three weeks to go before the Nov. 8 general election, absentee ballot numbers continue to grow –with 1.7 million already sent to voters who requested them and 432,960 returned, according to the Michigan Secretary of State. Three weeks ahead of the 2018 general election, just 912,872 absentee ballots had been requested.
The 2018 election was before voters passed no-reason absentee voting, which caused mail-in ballots to jump in 2020.
Local communities are following the statewide trend.
In Atlas Township, as of Oct. 18, about 1,600 residents have requested an absentee ballot so far, said Katie Vick, township clerk.
In 2018, during the last gubernatorial election, about 1,000 absentee ballots were requested. Then in 2020, following the passage of the no-reason absentee voting coupled with the Covid pandemic that number jumped to about 3,000 absentee ballots.
“The absentee ballots are a real benefit to area voters,” said Vick. “It’s much more convenient. The number of absentee ballots during Covid prompted that increase. Also, the number that actually returned the ballot in 2020 jumped to 95 percent, compared to 2018 when that number was about 85 percent.”
In Groveland Township, as of Oct. 18, about 955 ballots have been requested, said Patti Back, township clerk. In 2018, there were 815 absentee ballots sent out and in 2020 there were 2,004 requested.
In 2018 of 4,418 registered voters, 2,949 or 66.75 percent cast ballots in the gubernatorial race.
In Brandon Township, as of Oct. 18, about 2,522 residents had requested an absentee ballot, said Roselyn Blair, township clerk. In 2018, during the last gubernatorial election, 2,021 absentee ballots were returned. In 2020 there were 5,398 absentee ballots returned.
In 2018 of 12,226 registered voters, 7,575 or 61.96 percent cast ballots in the gubernatorial race.
At 5 p.m., Nov. 4, is the deadline to obtain an absentee ballot via First Class Mail.
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