In Michigan, almost all election votes have been counted and tabulated. There was a shift and change in votes from 2020 and 2016 to this 2024 election. Michigan Public’s Data Reporter, Adam Yahya Rayes, joined Stateside for a debrief on the 2024 election results, and how voters moved this presidential election cycle.
According to Rayes, Michigan did have a record number of voters this election year compared to 2020. However, it wasn't a large increase on the whole.
“And interestingly, though, the increase this time is not consistent across counties, according to data released this morning. Turnout saw little to no increase in some of Michigan's biggest counties. Several of them actually saw turnout decrease.”
In fact, when looking at some of Michigan’s smallest, most rural counties such as Montcalm and Lake, it is shown that voter turnout has increased by more than 8%.
“We actually saw a 3% increase in the total number of voters in Macomb. But its neighbor, Oakland, barely saw a quarter of a percent, despite being the larger county.”
Additionally, when looking at previous election years Saginaw County has become the state’s bellwether by correctly reflecting the state’s presidential pick. In 2016 the county went pale red during Trump’s first election, and turned pale blue in 2020 following the rest of the state during Biden’s election. This year, a tight race was observed within the county, as was observed throughout the overall state.
“Except this year, this year, Saginaw went to Trump by a margin of about three points. In past election, it was around one or less. Yeah. So the gap there might be widening a little bit. And it's clear that both parties presidential ticket saw Saginaw as a key county. Both parties, presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates paid visits to the city of Saginaw individually. That's one of the few cities in the state that got that sort of sustained attention.”
Hear the full conversation on the Stateside podcast.
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GUESTS ON TODAY’S SHOW:
Adam Yahya Rayes, Data Reporter at Michigan Public
UPDATE: A previous version of this story said nine counties in Michigan saw voter turnout decrease. Since this interview was conducted, that number has been updated to reflect lower voter turnout in fewer counties.
