WATERFORD, Mich. (WXYZ) — With 7 days on the clock, early voting lines in Metro Detroit are growing.
"I’ve never voted absentee. I always vote on vote day but I appreciate the fact that they’re letting everybody get out and get their vote in," said Sharon Tweed as she headed inside Waterford Oaks Activity Center to cast her ballot early.
Thomas Lamphere was also one of the voters at Waterford Oaks Activity Center casting his ballot Tuesday. He says this election will be his first time.
"I was just really happy to get out and do it finally," said Thomas Lamphere of Waterford.
Lamphere says he's looking forward to electing a leader who makes Americans feel confident again that the country is heading in the right direction. He says he's encouraging everyone to get out to the polls.
"There were a lot of people in the past who couldn’t vote: women, African Americans couldn’t vote. People who didn’t own land couldn’t vote at one point. So, there are a lot of people who fought for them to be able to vote, so it’s kind of their duty now," said Lamphere.
The state says more than 27% of registered voters, voting early in person or absentee, have already returned ballots. That accounts for nearly 2 million people. It's also the reason area clerks are anticipating record turnout on November 5th.
"I’ve been through several election cycles with the city and we have never seen numbers like this," said Livonia Clerk Lori Miller.
Miller says early in-person voting began in Livonia on Saturday at the Livonia Housing Commission South office. She says they’re now exceeding 1,000 voters per day at that location. It's something her team has been preparing for since September.
"We have had to add additional people at both the early voting site and also here at city hall and in addition to that, we will be reaching out and we’ll have a whole bunch of students here on Election Day to help us facilitate the lines and to work through the ballots," said Miller.
In Oakland County, Clerk Lisa Brown says they’re seeing big turnout too.
"We’re seeing big numbers and actually eight of our locations are on the top 10 busiest list in the state," said Brown. "We’ve been busy. I mean, this whole year it’s been nonstop and elections are every year but this one is extra busy just because we have the biggest turnout for our presidential elections and it’s the first year we have early voting."
Brown says the presidential election will look a lot different than 2020 where several factors were at play including a global pandemic bringing in a historic number of absentee ballots and delaying election results.
"It’s totally different. People have been asking me what do these numbers mean if this many absentee ballots have been returned? We can’t compare. We cannot compare. As you said 2020, we had COVID. A majority, I think 80% of the people voted absentee. That’s not normal. It’s leveled out since then," said Brown.
Brown also added that despite stories like ballot boxes being burned in Oregon and Washington State spreading across social media, election security, and integrity are top priorities for clerks across metro Detroit.
"Our ballot boxes have cameras so if someone is going to attempt to do that they’re going to be caught on film," said Brown. "Our elections are accurate, secure, and fair. They’re transparent. There are so many ways that people can be involved or just watch. They don’t have to work an election."
The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is Friday, November 2nd, and early voting is set to close on Sunday. Clerks are also reiterating the importance of physically bringing absentee ballots to ballot drop boxes rather than putting them in the mail to ensure they arrive on time.
