DETROIT (WWJ) -- A record number of Detroit residents got out to vote early over the weekend.
Early in-person voting began on Saturday, October 24, drawing 2,300 Detroiters who cast their ballots. Citywide turnout topped Detroit's first day of early voting for the 2024 presidential election, when there were 1,800 ballots cast.
Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey said Detroiters are not waiting for someone to knock on their door to motivate them this time around.
"For many, the motivation is right in their pockets," Winfrey said, in a statement. "When a paycheck buys less at the grocery store and the gas pump, the stakes become personal. Detroiters are turning those everyday concerns into action.”
What is early voting? How does it work?
Michigan registered voters have the constitutional right to cast their ballots early and in person ahead of Election Day for all statewide and federal elections. Under state rules, every community must provide early in-person voting for at least nine consecutive days — beginning the second Saturday before an election and running through the Sunday immediately preceding Election Day —operating for a minimum of eight hours per day, with some jurisdictions choosing to offer expanded hours or additional days.
The in-person early voting experience closely mirrors voting on Election Day, with one key distinction: designated early voting locations may differ from a voter’s standard precinct polling place. Voters check in at their assigned early voting site, mark their paper ballot, and feed it directly into a secure tabulator. Voters who already received an absentee ballot in the mail can also bring it with them to an early voting site to tabulate it in person or request a replacement ballot, as state law ensures only one ballot per voter is counted. While votes are securely stored inside tabulators as they are cast, state rules mandate that no early voting results are tabulated or reported until after polls close on Election Night.
Early, in-person voting continues through November 1. Election day is November 3.
Voters across other Michigan communities can check their specific early voting site locations and daily operational hours through their local city or township clerk or via the official state voter portal at Michigan Voter Information Center.
