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Could early voting speed up Election Day ballot processing? Experts weigh in

According to the state's voting dashboard, since Friday afternoon 736,894 ballots have been cast during early voting in Michigan, not including absentee ballots.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Matt Grossman is the director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University, and like others, he's closely watching how county and election officials are handling this year's election.

"Well this is the first major election in which we've had in-person early voting, so we don't have great comparisons," Grossman said. "But certainly some people are showing and it also isn't deterring people from sending in their mail-in ballots as well. So we should have a lot of votes counted, or at least in, before Election Day."

Since Friday afternoon, according to the state's voting dashboard, 736,894 ballots have been cast during early voting in Michigan, not including absentee ballots that have been received by county clerks.

With all of these ballots already in the hands of voting centers, will this speed up vote counting on Election Day? Grossman said it's possible.

"Yes, Michigan is expected to be able to count votes faster this year because it can pre-process absentee ballots earlier in the cycle," said Grossman. "Secretary of State is predicting, you know, an earlier count this year than last time."

Election officials can only pre-process ballots. Votes can't be counted until after polls close on Election Day.

And while processing the ballots could be quicker this election cycle, Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons said Election Day lines could be impacted as well.

"It's entirely possible that we have a lighter Election Day turnout because of absentee voting and early voting. But it's also possible that the Election Day busyness and hustle and bustle would be unimpacted by early voting and absentee. Just depends on who these voters are and when they're coming out," said Posthumus Lyons.

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