GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Michigan's presidential primary on February 27 will be the first election in which early, in-person voting will be made available to every voter in the state.
And, in some ways, it's been a race for county clerks like Lisa Posthumus Lyons to get it ready.
It follows the passage of a constitutional amendment that now requires that voters have access to in-person early voting.
"That's another provision that voters approved in 2022 as part of Proposal 2," said Lyons, who serves as the clerk for Kent County.
With this being the first time for many local clerks, early voting won't necessarily look the same for everyone.
While certain requirements were put in place by Proposal 2 - including a minimum of nine days for early in-person voting for all polling locations - some aspects of how counties go about it will be up to them.
In Kent County, it will be each local jurisdiction that controls its early voting polling places.
"We feel like it was important not to confuse voters in terms of where they should be voting," Lyons said. "But, you know, the local township or that city is what the voters know. So, we think that's where the voters should go."
But in other places like neighboring Ottawa County, towns and cities have agreed on a singular plan, with several polling places that voters county-wide will use for early voting.
Similar to the thinking in Kent, Ottawa's plan is also meant to do what those clerks feel will help voters through this brand new system.
"This whole early voting process is new, but it's also about convenience," Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck said in September, as the county's clerks were meeting to finalize their plan. "It's about the ability for someone to be able to, you know, cast their vote early. You know, we live busy lives nowadays, there's a lot of stuff going on. But, voting is so critical and important to our process, and expanding the options that voters have to participate is a win-win."
While all of Kent County's jurisdictions will be having nine days of early voting, according to Lyons, a maximum of 29 days of early voting also exists.
This means that the number of days early voting is offered can also depend on how your jurisdiction, county, or other regional authority plans to go about the early voting process.
"There's so many changes that are underway here in this election," Lyons said. "We want voters to be educated, we want to make them aware of what these changes are, we don't want them to be caught off guard or confused by how they are able to vote and where they should go."
To find out exactly what early voting will look like in your area, you can contact your local clerk's office.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.