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If you plan to vote the old-fashioned way (in person at a polling place), some advice: Wear comfortable shoes. Maybe bring a sandwich or even a good book. You may be in line a while.
Requests for absentee ballots are strong, according to weekly data released by the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, and those figures are generally predictive of Election Day turnout. In Wayne County, 168,441 absentee ballots had been requested as of Oct. 22. That’s just behind 2016’s 169,609 on the same date, but that was a presidential election year.
In 2014, the last time we elected a governor, that figure was only 112,810. Oakland and Macomb Counties are also close to 2016 numbers.
This year is not exactly comparable to 2014; Rick Snyder was running for a second term then, whereas in 2018 we’re electing a whole new governor, along with an attorney general, secretary of state and much of the state legislature.
But 2018 is also the second year of the Trump presidency, which has had a galvanizing effect on many voters, candidates and especially women.
The best advice is to vote early, but be prepared to wait. There’s still time to get an absentee ballot, but time is dwindling. Contact your city clerk or download a request form online. Absentee voters have until poll closing time on Election Day to submit their ballots.
