Michigan’s election results are not expected to be finalized until after Election Day, according to the state’s top election official on Oct. 20.
Voting has already commenced in the swing state, which favored then-Republican nominee Donald Trump in 2016 and former Vice President Joe Biden in 2020.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson mentioned in an interview on CBS‘ “Face the Nation” that, “We do have more options to process ballots sooner than Election Day, which is where we were restricted in 2020. So, I’m optimistic we could see results even sooner. But I would estimate end of the day on Wednesday as the best guess on how we’ll perform.”
Benson emphasized that officials in Michigan will prioritize accuracy and security over speed.
Michigan finalized its final unofficial results in 2020 at 8 p.m. the day after Election Day.
In 2020, multiple states, including Michigan, were unable to complete processing ballots by the end of Election Day, delaying the confirmation of Biden’s win until Nov. 7. The results from 2016 were confirmed the day after the election.
Currently, one million people, or 14.2 percent of Michigan’s active voting population, have already cast their ballots for 2024. Many have chosen to return mail-in ballots, also known as absentee ballots. Benson’s office reported that 2.2 million absentee ballots were sent to voters.
Although the number of residents old enough to vote in Michigan is 7.9 million, the state has 8.4 million registered voters due to a federal law that delays the removal of individuals from voting rolls until they fail to respond to mailing notices or do not vote in two consecutive federal elections.
Earlier this year, Republicans filed a lawsuit against Benson, alleging that Michigan officials have not adequately maintained voter rolls, leading to voter disenfranchisement. The lawsuit cited federal law requiring states to regularly remove deceased or relocated voters, as well as those who have not voted for an extended period.
Republicans claimed in their complaint that the number of registered voters in Michigan is unreasonably high, attributing it to “substandard list maintenance.”
Michigan officials have requested the court to dismiss the case, asserting that they have complied with federal law by canceling over 700,000 voter registrations since 2019 and planning to purge a list of inactive voters in the upcoming years. The Michigan Department of State indicated that 339,551 registrations are set to be canceled in 2025, with an additional 258,175 slated for removal in 2027.
The federal court overseeing the case has not issued a ruling yet.
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