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Absentee voting began Thursday in Michigan

Mounds of Absentee Ballots by lancefisher is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Absentee ballots were put in the mail to people who requested them. Registered voters can also stop by clerks’ offices to fill out their ballots.

It’s easier now to vote absentee in Michigan. And more people have requested absentee ballots during the COVID-19 crisis.

Absentee voting is expected to play a decisive role in this year’s elections. 

In a web conference with progressive activists, Governor Gretchen Whitmer noted the election in Michigan was very close in 2016.

“The whole world knows that there are a handful of states that there’s’ going to be an incredible amount of pressure on,” Whitmer said.

The Legislature also approved a bill to let election workers pre-process absentee ballots so they can be tallied more quickly. But Whitmer says she expects it will take days before the final results are known.