If you want to have a say in deciding Michigan’s next governor, you must register to vote by today. Governor Rick Snyder is unable to run again due to term limits. That makes this the first time in eight years Michigan residents have a governor’s ballot without an incumbent.
After a high turnout in the primary, Michigan’s former state Elections Director and political consultants are predicting about four million voters will head to the polls on November 6th – which would be pretty high for a midterm.
Fred Woodhamsis with the Secretary of State’s office. He says as far as the number of people registered to vote, it’ll be about the same as it was in 2014.
“We didn’t see four million turn out then, but clearly people are very engaged,” Woodhams said. “The primary broke some records, but that may not necessarily translate to November.”
Multiple voting groups have focused on increasing young voter turnout. Woodhams said their office has also tried to register more young voters.
“Secretary of State Ruth Johnson did send the mobile office on a 3,000 mile tour across the state to Michigan’s public colleges and universities. Visited 18 campuses, signed up hundreds of young people to vote,” he said.
You can register by going to your local Secretary of State’s office, or your county, city, or township clerk’s office. You can also view your sample ballot and get other information on voting at Michigan.gov/vote.
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—Cheyna Roth is a reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network. Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
