Major Michigan City Decides Against Verifying Mail Ballots Early, Potentially Slowing Results
Source: US News and World Report/AP
Oct. 24, 2024, at 6:47 p.m.
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A decision by the elections clerk in Michigan's third-largest city is raising concerns of a slowdown in reporting election night results in a county that is being targeted by both presidential campaigns and includes a competitive congressional race.
The city clerk in Warren, who also runs elections in the Macomb County city, has opted against using a new state law that allows election offices to start processing mail ballots before Election Day. The vast majority of voting jurisdictions in the presidential battleground state are taking advantage of the law, which allows them to start verifying signatures and other identifying information eight days early.
City Clerk Sonja Djurovic Buffa said that in light of other changes taking effect for election administrators this year, such as expanded early voting, she decided to process mail ballots on Election Day, just as her office has done for years. She said processing those ballots at the same time is more efficient and suggested that processing them before Election Day opens the possibility of results being leaked early.
“Accuracy is the number one priority for me, and then speed is second,” Buffa, who has worked in elections for more than two decades, said in a written statement. Under the law, passed as part of a broader 2022 citizen initiative that also expanded early voting, municipalities with populations of 5,000 or more have the option to start processing absentee ballots early but don't have to. Results would not be reported until after polls closed, the same as in previous years.
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/michigan/articles/2024-10-24/major-michigan-city-decides-against-verifying-mail-ballots-early-potentially-slowing-results
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