Will Warren delay key Michigan election results? Clerk's move prompts worries
Warren — City Clerk Sonja Buffa said she isn't planning to start counting absentee ballots for Michigan's third-largest city until Election Day, a decision the Macomb County clerk and other city officials worry could potentially delay results for the entire state and determine who wins the most competitive races.
Under a new state law, cities or townships with a population of at least 5,000 can start processing and tabulating absentee ballots eight days before Election Day on Nov. 5. To do this, municipalities had to provide notice to the state 28 days before Election Day, or Oct. 8, at the latest, Michigan Department of State spokesperson Sam May said.
But Buffa's office won't tabulate absentee ballots until Nov. 5. The Warren City Council is planning to talk about this decision during its Tuesday evening meeting, said City Council Secretary Mindy Moore.
Buffa said tabulating eight days ahead of time isn't required by law.
"You can follow the process, and you can see what everybody is doing across the state and how many times the laws have changed and everything that we've had to do as far as all these mandates by the state of Michigan ― we do everything that we're told to do legislatively, funded and unfunded," said Buffa, who was appointed by the council to be the city's clerk in January 2019 and was reelected last year.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2024/10/22/will-warren-delay-key-michigan-election-results-clerk-buffa-absentee-ballot-move-prompts-worries/75782385007/
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