Elections officials in Oakland and Macomb counties are assuring voters that their ballots will be counted, even if they don't have results on election night.
Lisa Brown is the Oakland County clerk and register of deeds.
She says voters need to be patient with clerks, who are taking every precaution necessary to make sure that the election is accurate and fair.
"Local clerks will not sacrifice counting every vote, they will not sacrifice the safety of our election workers, nor will they sacrifice the integrity of the election," Brown says. "So the only thing left to sacrifice is time."
She says amendments to the Michigan constitution have made it so much easier for more Michiganders to vote by mail, and this year there will be an overwhelming number of absentee ballots because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are counting for 16 of our cities and townships in Oakland County, "Brown says. "I’m confident those results will be done Tuesday. We’ve hired 300 people to do that and we have a lot of space to do that, and not all our local clerks have the same resources, so they’re going to need time. And we’re asking everyone to be patient, and give them the time to let them do their job correctly and make sure our results are accurate and secure."
According to Brown, 535,253 ballots have been sent out in Oakland County, and 417,468 have been returned. Macmob County Clerk Fred Miller says more than 291,000 ballots were issued, and more than 229,000 of those have been returned. The Secretary of State's office says more than 2.6 million Michiganders have voted in the election so far via early and absentee voting.
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