Michigan officials say voters should avoid mailing ballots now because they might not be received by Election Day.
Many voters say they’re already concerned about whether their ballot will be counted even if it’s placed in a drop-in box.
Some Michiganders say they plan to vote in-person – pandemic or not.
President Trump has claimed repeatedly without providing evidence that massive absentee voting will create massive voter fraud.
It’s become a campaign talking point as it was this past weekend at a Trump rally in Muskegon.
The president even went further.
Though the Secretary of State is in charge of elections Trump told the crowd to keep a close eye on Michigan’s head Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
“And be careful of her and her Attorney General because you know they’re like the judge of the ballot stuff…right? So how the hell do I put my political and our country’s political life in the hands of a pure partisan like that…right? So you gotta watch it…watch those ballots…watch what’s going on…you’re more important than any eyes. And law enforcement is watching…they’re watching,” said Trump.
That sense of foreboding about the election process itself is being felt from the presidential podium to places like the Dodge Park Coney Island in Sterling Heights.
“What do you want Teddy…you want a hot dog or a hamburger? Hamburger? You want cheese on it?”
Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor is taking orders from three of his most important constituents – his children.
But Taylor says he fears dangerous people like those who planned to kidnap Whitmer…might hear the President’s complaints about the legitimacy of the election as a call to take action if Trump loses.
“If there’s not a decisive winner declared on the election night or the next morning…there’s the potential for a lot of problems," Taylor says. "President Trump is stoking those sort of fears and that anger. And if he thinks the election was stolen from him…or even if he doesn’t think that but he says it? I’m afraid that would be a call to arms for a lot of people.”
It’s also a big concern for the restaurant’s owner Pashko Ujkaj.
“The way the climate has becoming now for the election…there’s so much fear into it and anger…that," said Ujkaj. "It makes you feel like if you don’t vote for the right side this might be the end. That’s how these elections are being promoted now.”
Ujkay says he’s a rare commodity these days – an undecided voter.
He came from Montenegro as a boy and is now a US citizen who says he’s truly excited about voting.
Especially voting in-person.
“Part of the excitement is where you are able to find out that night who’s going to be your next president," says Ujkaj. "That’s I think probably what ties in with my willingness to go in and vote in person. I like my vote to be counted that night…not two weeks later…or might not even be counted.”
That concern reaches the eating area outside the restaurant where Robin Bordner is munching on lunch.
She says she’s renting a room in Sterling Heights for a training program but plans to vote near her family farm in Sturgis.
And she too says she will go in-person to the polls even though she says she’s at a risky age for contracting Covid-19.
“If the news is accurate in that that they’re already finding ballots in mysterious places," Bordner said. "I think that’s just a travesty to our system in this country. But how do we believe the media today…you know? And again…that’s just devastating to our country and our system and the way it was set up that everybody’s voice mattered.”
Heading away from the Coney Island Lyft driver Jeff Haddad says he supports Trump because the nation needs a quote ”strong man” as its leader.
But Haddad says he also agrees with Trump’s suspicions about the potential for fraud in the election.
“My wife…she received five applications for the voting registration," said Haddad, "Five of them. And I received four so far. We decided to go in person…me and my wife. I will protect myself with mask and sanitizer and social distance and I’ll be careful.”
In Midtown Detroit on the Wayne State University campus student Jeremy Taras says he’s preparing to cast his FIRST vote for president.
“I just turned 18…it’s like determining our…like… our country," Taras says. "I’m starting to become an adult…so it’s gonna affect me in the future. So I feel like it’s an important thing that I have to start participating in.”
Taras tugs on his shirt bearing the words “Wayne State Football” and adds that he’s not yet sure exactly how he’ll deliver his ballot.
“If I can have time to actually do it in person…I’m gonna do it in person," said Taras. "But it I have to mail it in I’m gonna have to mail it in. I’m not gonna rush and miss practice just to go and vote. So it all depends on what’s my schedule.”
On busy Woodward Avenue Detroiter Malinda Hill-Sangster says she gave up on voting by mail weeks ago.
“I can’t even get a piece of mail that’s gonna come from my bank right now…like," said Sangster. "And I don’t really trust the mail system right now. So I’m definitely going to go in and I’m going to put my ballot in the tabulator myself at the satellite location.”
Sangster says she knows how to operate the ballot machinery because she’s an election supervisor.
She says workers will be tested for Covid-19 and wear masks at polling locations.
But she says some voters may not be able to afford the same precautions…or might feel being forced to wear a face covering is a violation of their constitutional rights.
“We don’t turn you away," Sangster says. "If you don’t have a mask I’m not gonna tell you no. I’m gonna buy a whole box of masks. And if you come in…if you don’t have a mask and you absolutely are at my location…you registered to vote and you want to vote…I’m gonna give you a mask out of my bag. And if you don’t do that…I mean what can I do? I’m gonna sanitize after you but I’m not gonna stop you. Do what you have to do. If this is how you feel…do it. Do it! Vote.”
Further down Woodward Detroiter John Wilson says he’s determined to vote in person.
But not because he fears accusations of ballot fraud or even the pandemic.
“Well for the simple reason…my mother and them…they went through a lot worser to vote," Wilson said, "Just for me to say…‘Oh I’m not gonna go down there ‘cause I may catch Covid’…you know what I’m saying…hey they was catching bullets and getting set on fire and dogs and stuff. So all this other stuff really don’t…it don’t bother me…you know what I’m saying? I take a chance every time I come out my door. It’s time for me to go home…God gonna tell me to come home…whether I go to the polls or not.”
Many experts predict very long lines at polling places this year.
But many Michiganders say they are ready to brave that wait and the threat of the pandemic if it will ensure their vote is counted in this most contentious of elections.