GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Werewolves, deer and cats in Uncle Sam hats—all designs on this year's 'I Voted' stickers in the battleground state of Michigan—are about to become much more common sights as its early in-person voting period has begun statewide for the November general election.
And, according to the state's top elections officials, the number of people who took part in the first weekend of that early voting far exceeded officials' expectations.
"I'm really excited because this weekend, Michigan voters made history, turning out in massive numbers to cast their ballot at an early voting site," Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a press conference Monday.
According to data compiled by the Michigan Department of State, just over 250,000 people combined voted early either on Saturday or Sunday. That's compared to much lower turnout recorded by the Department of State in elections earlier this year.
"In the February presidential primary, the total turnout for all nine days of early voting was 79,000," Benson said. "And for the August primary, we had about 73,000 folks participate in early in-person voting."
It's the first general presidential election in which a statewide early in-person voting period is required, after voters in Michigan passed Proposal 2 in 2022.
"While we were surprised by the large turnout, it was a very pleasant surprise," Benson said.
And while some clerks had initially signaled concerns when faced with what they felt was the daunting task in ensuring early in-person voting systems could be put in place in time for 2024, Benson believed the system had held.
"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. Precincts all over the state reported strong turnout and enthusiastic voters."
But do clerks now agree the new systems are working? We asked one.
"I think our local clerks have done a really great job," said Lisa Posthumus Lyons, the Republican clerk of all-important Kent County. "They are the unsung heroes of our elections. And you know, so we've spent a lot of time making sure that we've got a system in place that that responds to these reforms and does so in a way that makes our voting process efficient, accurate, transparent and secure."
With both the state and Kent County being at just over 24% turnout as of Sunday night with a little over a week to go until Election Day, Lyons believes the options in place don't give people a reason to sit on the sidelines.
"So, while a presidential election is generally in the 70% turnout range, you know, we could see that turnout break records for this year," Lyons said.