The Washtenaw County elections division reported lower turnout in Tuesday night’s presidential primaries than in recent years.
Because of new voting laws in Michigan this was the first election to be preceded by nine days of early voting. Of the more than 322,000 registered voters in Washtenaw County, just under 78,000 filled out a ballot. That comes to about 24% turnout. The ballot count was completed shortly after midnight, early this morning.
Ed Golembiewski is the director of elections for Washtenaw County. He says the addition of early voting does complicate the election process.
“There’s a lot of paperwork that's generated over the nine days of early voting. And the receiving board of election inspectors, the poll workers that take a look at everything, have a lot to sift through there. So, it does add an administrative burden, but it’s one that’s welcome.”
Golembiewski says, when compared to the rest of the state, Washtenaw County voters did utilize their early voting options. Ann Arbor led the state in early voting participation with over 2,700 residents casting their ballot before election day.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
