WELLS, Mich. (WZMQ) – Early voting for the August 6 primary election began on Saturday. The relatively recent update to the election process is still catching on with voters in places like Delta County.
According to Delta County Election and Vital Records Deputy Clerk Kylee Hanson, primary elections sometimes see a bit of a lower overall turnout than November general elections.
“It’s a little bit different,” she said. “The general elections, people can cross party on their ballots. For the primary, they can’t because it’s partisan, so they can only vote on one column or the other column. It kind of depends on who’s running, I guess.”
Poll workers have been stationed at Wells Township Hall to help early voters cast their ballots. From Saturday to Tuesday, it was a fairly slow start.
“Not a huge turnout—about ten a day—but early voting’s been going good,” said Hanson. “There’s no issues.”
With early voting available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Sunday, August 4, there is still time for voters to cast their ballots ahead of Election Day.
“This is only our second time doing it,” said Hanson. “Hopefully, it’ll pick up a little bit. I don’t know how many people just prefer to vote in person or absentee.”
Some poll workers believe as voters become more aware of early voting each election, the option could grow in popularity.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for people to come down and avoid any lines and any waiting,” said election worker George Sailer. “It’s convenient. You can pick your day and come. We haven’t seen a lot of people take advantage of it, but we’re here and we would hope that they would try to vote early!”
Hanson anticipates a larger turnout at local precincts on August 6. She encourages voters to head to the polls to help their candidates of choice make it to the general election.
“If they want to see them back on the ballot in November, they need to get out and vote for them in the primary,” Hanson said. “Otherwise, there could be the potential of them not making it through the primary election. If they really want that person, they should go out and vote for the primary.”
Wells Township Hall is located at 6436 North 8th Street in Wells. WZMQ 19 will keep voters updated on election results as they come in next Tuesday.
