A "Vote Here" sign outside the Hannah Community Center before the 2020 election. The center served as an Early Voting Center this election cycle. (ELi file photo)

Early Voting Centers See Big Turnout Ahead of Election Day

The two East Lansing Early Voting Centers saw a total of 5,648 ballots cast, East Lansing Communications Director Carrie Sampson told ELi. 

This figure does not include absentee ballots, which many residents used to cast votes ahead of tomorrow’s (Nov. 5) Election Day. City Clerk Marie Wicks has encouraged early voting to cut down on election day lines, especially for students who may still need to register before voting.

Wicks posted on Facebook that East Lansing has about 20,400 active registered voters. This means that more than one quarter of registered voters utilized the Early Voting Centers to cast their ballot. 

The East Lansing City Clerk’s Office had a long line of residents during the 2022 midterm elections, as residents waited to register to vote, change their addresses or to vote. (Lucas Day for ELi)

Sampson said it is unclear right now how many East Lansing voters have voted via absentee ballot at this time. Since a ballot proposal to allow any reason absentee voting was approved statewide in 2018, absentee voting has been popular in East Lansing. 

The Early Voting Centers aren’t only popular in East Lansing. More than 1.2 million people voted early in-person in Michigan, according to a report by The Detroit Free Press. When including voters who voted early via absentee ballot, the Free Press reported that nearly 3.1 million of the state’s 7 million registered voters have already voted. 

East Lansing had two Early Voting Centers, both of which were open for the last day yesterday, Sunday, Nov. 3. The Early Voting Centers were located at the Hannah Community Center and the WKAR studio in the Communication Arts and Sciences building on Michigan State University’s campus. 

The WKAR location had been open since Oct. 21, and the Hannah Community Center location opened Oct. 26.

Tomorrow (Nov. 5), East Lansing will have two Election Day Vote Centers where residents can both register to vote and cast their ballot. The WKAR studio will host one center, and the other will be at City Hall. 

In a September interview, Wicks said early voting and registration will be important to cut down on Election Day lines. In 2022, Michigan State University students were in line after midnight, largely because many students needed to register to vote in East Lansing, and registration cannot be done at regular precincts open on Election Day, funneling unregistered voters to a couple of locations. 

Wicks also said election workers will look to identify voters who are in the wrong municipality while they are still in line, which will help cut down on lines. 

Those who still need to vote can head to the polls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday Nov. 5. Voters in line at 8 p.m. may remain in line until they have voted. Residents who have already registered can find their polling location here.

Additionally, the ELi Election Guide that brings information on candidates and more can be read here, and a sample ballot can be viewed here.