Over 145,000 people cast their ballot on the first day of early in-person voting in Michigan this Saturday, according to the Secretary of State's office.
It's the first presidential election the process has been made available in the state. A state constitutional amendment was passed in 2022 requiring local governments to provide at least nine days of early in-person voting.
In the city of Midland, hundreds of Midland County residents lined up on the sidewalk of the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library to cast their ballot early.
“Today is absolutely crazy,” said Lisa Benter-Rich, early voting coordinator for Midland County. “We knew it would be a higher turnout, but this is much higher than what I anticipated.”
Benter-Rich said her office has been bombarded with residents calling to ask about early voting and how it works.
“You bring your photo ID and you just come to the polls, just like you do for regular voting,” she said. “We've tweaked it as we went along, February looked a lot different than August. August looked a lot different than today. We try to prepare for everything that could possibly go wrong, because it will,”
Benter-Rich said she and her team are staying adaptable to try and give every voter the best experience at the polls. She said finding the balance of poll workers is one of her main challenges.
“We have to have a balance of Republicans and Democrats and sometimes that's a little difficult to find everybody that we need for every day,” she said. “In fact, I've already sent out an e-mail to everyone saying I think I need more people for the rest of the week.”
Benter-Rich wants voters to know they can also bring in their absentee ballots to be submitted into the tabulator personally, instead of turning them in by mail or drop box.
Early in-person voting is available until sunday, Nov. 3. To find your early voting location, visit the Michigan Voter Information Center.
