With a rapidly changing Democratic presidential primary field, some Michigan voters who opted to cast ballots early via absentee procedures are having second thoughts. The procedure to retract one's vote and re-cast it is known as "spoiling," and more than 8,000 have done so for this election.
Vote early, at home? It can have pitfalls in a changing field. (Photo: DepositPhotos)
No fewer than four candidates -- Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Mike Bloomberg -- have dropped out in the last two weeks, well after absentee voting had begun.
As of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, clerks throughout Michigan had received 8,131 requests to spoil a ballot and cast a new one, a nearly 3,000-ballot jump from the 5,219 requests that had been made as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Without a similar primary or absentee trend with which to compare the current numbers, it's difficult to say whether the number of spoiled ballots is significant, said Mark Grebner of Practical Political Consulting in East Lansing. The 8,000-plus total still comprises bout 1% of the overall absentee ballots mailed out.
The primary is next Tuesday.
