Absentee voting surges during coronavirus shutdown
Turnout during May elections is usually pretty light. This year is different.
Tuesday’s election in Michigan saw unusally high numbers of voters despite a statewide shutdown that closed polling locations.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said voter turnout was likely to be unprecedented.
“We anticipate this election will surpass even the 23% turnout that was recorded in 2015 when there was a statewide question,” she said, according to an article on MLive.
That may be due in part to the fact that all registered voters living in areas with May 5 elections were automatically sent applications for absentee ballots. That followed the governor’s March 27 order temporarily suspending election laws.
The average story costs NowKalamazoo $400 to produce. Donate to fund stories like this.
Thank you to the community institutions that support our work:
