Name: With roughly half of absentee ballots returned, clerks prepare for potential crush
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With roughly half of absentee ballots returned, clerks prepare for potential crush

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Detroit Free Press LANSING — Local clerks are&nbsp;preparing for a&nbsp;rush of absentee ballots dropped off at their offices over the next few days, as many said close to half of the ballots they issued were not&nbsp;returned as of Thursday afternoon.Tuesday's primary election, which follows voter approval in 2018 of no-reason absentee voting and comes amid a pandemic that will discourage many from showing up to the polls in person on Election Day, already features record numbers of absentee ballots requested and sent out to voters.Though in some cities it will depend on how many of those absentee ballots are returned, many clerks will process&nbsp;more&nbsp;absentee ballots Tuesday than in any previous election, including the November 2018 gubernatorial election and&nbsp;the presidential election of November 2016.For many clerks, Tuesday&nbsp;is in part a practice run for the November 2020 general election, when the crush of absentee ballots is expected to be far greater.Livonia City Clerk Susan Nash described 2020 as "the Olympics of absentee ballots," with events increasing in difficulty&nbsp;between now and November."I feel every election going forward is going to be a new record," Nash told the Free Press on Thursday.Livonia, a western Wayne County city with&nbsp;just over 78,000 registered voters, had sent out close to 27,700 absentee ballots as of Thursday afternoon, of which just over 14,000 had been returned, or close to half.With voters now encouraged not to mail in their absentee ballots, given the risk they would not arrive by Tuesday and therefore would not be counted, traffic was increasing Thursday at the horseshoe-shaped driveway in front of Livonia City Hall, where voters can drop their ballots into a locked box without leaving their cars, or walk into the lobby to place them in another secured box.Nash said she expects the situation to remain manageable as more completed ballots are returned over the next several days, but, if necessary, she will arrange for a reserve officer to help voters dropping off their ballots outside the municipal building."If I sense a problem, I will get help," she said.Statewide, close to 2 million people in Michigan have requested absentee ballots for Tuesday's vote, and close to 1 million of those have been returned.More:More:What percentage of those ballots will ultimately be returned was a point of speculation Thursday for local clerks, many of whom normally have absentee ballot return rates of 80% to 90%, or even higher.Several said they expect the return rates to dip this time. One reason? With everyone receiving absentee ballot applications sent out by the Secretary of State's Office, some may have filled out and returned the application thinking about the presidential election in November, only to find that contest not listed when their ballots were received.In Livonia, nearly 97% of absentee ballots were returned in 2018, Nash said. She does not expect to hit that number for Tuesday's vote.A statewide list of all drop box locations is available In Warren, City Clerk Sonja&nbsp;Djurovic Buffa said more than 400 people dropped off their ballots on Thursday alone."We had an unusual number of people coming in today," Buffa said.The city in Macomb County, which has just under 103,000 registered voters, sent out close to 25,000 absentee ballots and has had about 14,000 of them returned.By comparison, in the 2016 August primary, Warren sent out close to 8,000 absentee ballots and had close to 7,000 returned. In the 2012 primary, about 7,500 were sent out and close to 6,800 were returned.Still, "we could get 50,000 (absentee) ballots in November," she said."We're telling everybody to bring their ballots in and not mail them," Buffa said&nbsp;In Warren, voters also have the option of using a drive-through drop box or taking their ballots inside for processing, she said.In Novi, in Oakland County, "we've seen a dramatic increase compared to any previous election," said City Clerk Cortney Hanson.The city of about 43,500 registered voters has sent out close to 16,000 absentee ballots, of which about 6,800, or 43%, had been returned as of Thursday afternoon.In terms of absentee ballots sent out, "this is more absentee ballots than we've ever had to accommodate, even compared to a presidential election," she said.But the return rate will determine whether the number of absentee ballots processed sets a record, she said. Novi processed about 10,000 absentee ballots in the November 2016 election and about 9,000 in November 2018.Hanson does not expect any problems with voters returning the remaining ballots in person."The concern I've heard is, 'What if the drop box gets full,' " she said. "Our staff checks the box many times a day, and even more often as we get closer" to Election Day, she said.In Lansing, city residents have two options for dropping off their ballots: City Hall on Capitol Avenue or another city office building on South Washington.The Ingham County city of 85,000 registered voters has sent out about 22,200 absentee ballots and about 60% of them have been returned, City Clerk Chris Swope said.In the 2016 August primary, Lansing sent out about 5,500 absentee ballots and had about 4,500 returned.He expects a lower return rate this year because there are few competitive primary races in Lansing, a heavily Democratic city.In Rockford, in western Michigan, longtime City Clerk Christine Bedford said most&nbsp; people drop off their absentee ballots at the city offices, even in previous years.The city of about 4,500 registered voters sent out close to 1,400 absentee ballots and 56% had been returned as of Thursday afternoon, she said."November is just going to be a whole different creature," Bedford said.Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.&nbsp;Follow him on Twitter .&nbsp; and sign up for our .&nbsp;&nbsp;

Detroit Free Press LANSING — Local clerks are&nbsp;preparing for a&nbsp;rush of absentee ballots dropped off at their offices over the next few days, as many said close to half of the ballots they issued were not&nbsp;returned as of Thursday afternoon.Tuesday's primary election, which follows voter approval in 2018 of no-reason absentee voting and comes amid a pandemic that will discourage many from showing up to the polls in person on Election Day, already features record numbers of absentee ballots requested and sent out to voters.Though in some cities it will depend on how many of those...

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Paul Egan

The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primarily serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Monroe counties.  The Free Press is also the largest city newspaper owned by Gannett, which also publishes USA Today. The Free Press has received ten Pulitzer Prizes and four Emmy Awards. Its motto is "On Guard for 189 Years".

With roughly half of absentee ballots returned, clerks prepare for potential crush

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