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Michigan Primary recap – problems ahead

I Voted! by starbright31 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Voting rights advocates say they are concerned after watching Michigan’s August Primary this week.

On primary night Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson described the election as running smoothly.   But there were problems in Detroit and other cities that needed help with staffing polling places and many voters described problems with getting absentee ballots.

Aghogho Edevbie is the state director of All Voting is Local. He worries heavy turnout for the November election could exacerbate problems.

“If we don’t fix these things in November we’re going to have a very bad situation that could turn into a disaster,” said Edevbie.

A coalition of voter rights groups is calling for hiring more poll workers increasing the number of absentee voter drop boxes and encouraging more Michiganders to vote early. 

Steve Carmody has been a reporter for Michigan Public since 2005.