• Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
WZMQ 19 News | CBS | MeTV Marquette
Cloudy

Marquette
Cloudy 52°

Mostly Clear

Escanaba
Mostly Clear 63°

Cloudy

Houghton
Cloudy 56°

Mostly Cloudy

Iron Mountain
Mostly Cloudy 63°

Watch
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
WZMQ 19 News | CBS | MeTV Marquette
No Result
View All Result
WZMQ 19 News | CBS | MeTV Marquette
No Result
View All Result

Election Clerks begin pre-processing absentee ballots

by Sophia Murphy
October 31, 2024
A A

LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Over 2 million Michigan voters have already cast their vote in this presidential election. 670,000 voters cast absentee ballots that were turned in before early voting had begun.

For the first time in a presidential election, local clerks will be allowed to preprocess absentee ballots for up to 8 days before Election Day.

Under the old laws, clerks couldn’t start processing absentee ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Workers were sequestered until polls closed at 8 p.m., unable to leave the building or make phone calls. Chris Swope, Lansing’s City Clerk, said in 2020, volunteers showed up at 6 a.m. and didn’t finish the count until 10 a.m. the next day.

“Election workers as well as challengers were sequestered until 8:00 p.m. election night. You come in at six or seven [in the morning] and you can’t leave, you can’t take a walk around the block, you can’t talk to your loved ones and communicate what’s going on.” Swope said. “When they were sequestered, they couldn’t really report anything to anybody, so it really does make it a more open process for both the people working it as well as the people who are watching the people running the election.”

Under the new law, officials were able to start processing ballots on Monday. Poll workers take in returned absentee ballots, verify signatures, open the envelopes, ensure the correct ballot was returned, and scan them through the tabulator, but can’t count the votes until polls close on Election Day.

Swope said that preprocessing has helped relieve the extra stress of a 28-hour day on poll workers, many of retirement age.

Some clerks have still decided to opt out of preprocessing in this election. The City of Warren was a part of national controversy in a past election. City officials were accused of election fraud concerning the way the vote counts were updated because of preprocessing.

Warren City Clerk released this statement on the subject:

“I have been administering elections for 24 years and my staff has always demonstrated accuracy and precision with elections. accuracy is the number one priority for me, and then speed is second. It is for these reasons that I have chosen not to preprocess.

First, it actually would take more time to pre-process absentee votes for eight days given the extra people needed, the time it takes, the storage necessitated, and the compiling afterward, than one full day of counting.

Next, pre-processing is not mandated for clerks. the legislature could have easily mandated pre-processing, but they chose to make it optional.

Finally, up to eight days of pre-processing opens the door for results to get leaked or compromised. I will not risk compromising the integrity of the election.

I also want the results quickly and we are committed to accomplishing that task in addition to keeping the election accurate, safe and secure. We can do this!

I hope that the scrutiny this office is getting will not discourage the general public from voting. As always, thank you for voting.”

-Sonja Djurovic Buffa, Warren City Clerk

The final counts from the election are expected to take up to a week to be certified. The same new election laws allow military and overseas voters a week for their ballots to be returned to michigan, so long as they are postmarked by Election Day.

Absentee vote counts tend to be added in chunks throughout the evening, which has caused some confusion in the past, but Swope stressed security measures are protecting the open process with oversight from both Republican and Democrat election inspectors. Ensuring all votes are counted correctly and no information is compromised before totals are released the night of November 5.

Get WZMQ 19 anytime, anywhere

Download the app

AppleAndroid

Watch on TV

RokuFire TVZeam

Connect on social media

FacebookTwitterInstagram

More

Every year, the residents of Brookridge Heights take part in a point five K run/walk to benefit the Alzheimer's Association. It's a precursor to the walk to end Alzheimer's, which takes place in September.
News

A short walk with a big heart

June 5, 2025
News

Insights: Summer readings at the Peter White Public Library

June 5, 2025
SUPERIOR ON TAP IS A LECTURE SERIES HOSTED BY CITIZENS FOR A SAFE AND CLEAN LAKE SUPERIOR. TONIGHT'S PRESENTATION WAS ABOUT THE EFFECTS TOURISM HAS ON THE ENVIRONMENT.
News

Does the U.P. have too many tourists?

June 5, 2025
News

Three injured in two-vehicle crash in Manistique

June 5, 2025
News

Creature Feature: Crested Gecko

June 5, 2025
News

Rapid River Farmers Market season in full swing

June 5, 2025
Next Post

Calumet takes top honors in West PAC Volleyball

Calumet, Forest Park remain UP Volleyball leaders

  • Home
  • News
  • Weather
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Events
  • Programming
  • Station
WZMQ CBS | 19 News

© 2025 WZMQ, LLC | FCC Public File | EEO Report

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
  • Events
  • Programming
    • Programming Guide
    • CBS
    • MeTV
    • Start TV
    • Heroes & Icons
    • Court TV
    • ION
  • Station
    • About Us
    • Community Involvement
    • Mobile App
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Advertising
    • Request Copy of Story
    • FCC Public File
    • EEO Report
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • UP 200
    • Local
    • Lansing Bureau
    • Washington D.C. Bureau
    • National
    • Insights
    • Watch 19 News Live
    • CBS News Live
    • Report News
  • Weather
    • Forecast + Conditions
    • Current Alerts
    • Interactive Radar
    • Cameras
    • Share Photos/Videos
    • Closings and Delays
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Life in the 906
    • The Yooper Goddess
  • Events
  • Programming
    • Programming Guide
    • CBS
    • MeTV
    • Start TV
    • Heroes & Icons
    • Court TV
    • ION
  • Station
    • About Us
    • Community Involvement
    • Mobile App
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Advertising
    • Request Copy of Story
    • FCC Public File
    • EEO Report
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our privacy policy.
Go to mobile version