Everyone thought they knew how this would go. When Michigan voters passed Proposal 2 in 2022, the big promise was that a nine-day early in-person voting window would change the game forever. And honestly? It kinda did. But the early voting results Michigan produced in the 2024 presidential election aren't just about a "blue wall" or a "red wave"—they're about a massive shift in how the average person in the Great Lakes State actually shows up to participate in democracy.
We saw 1.2 million people walk into a polling station before Election Day even arrived. That’s a massive chunk of the 5.7 million total votes cast across the state. In the past, if you wanted to vote early, you were basically stuck with a mail-in ballot. Not anymore.
The numbers that actually matter
Michigan ended up ranking third in the nation for voter turnout among eligible citizens. That’s huge. We're talking 74.6% of the eligible population making their voices heard. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office reported that total turnout among active registered voters hit 79%.
Here’s the breakdown of how people actually cast those ballots:
- Election Day: 39.4%
- Absentee/Mail: 39.2%
- Early In-Person: 21.4%
It was almost a dead heat between the traditional Tuesday voters and the mail-in crowd. But that 21.4% who used the new nine-day window? They are the ones who effectively killed the long lines we used to see in places like Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids.
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Why early voting results Michigan surprised the "experts"
Most pundits assumed early voting was a Democratic stronghold. That's the old way of thinking. In 2024, the script flipped. Some of the highest adoption rates for early in-person voting came from deep-red counties.
Take a look at Kalkaska, Allegan, and Barry counties. These aren't exactly liberal bastions. Yet, voters there were among the biggest fans of the new system, with more than a third of their total ballots coming in during that nine-day early period. Donald Trump actually fared incredibly well in these areas. It turns out, when you give people more days to vote, they take them—regardless of who they’re pulling the lever for.
The first-timer effect
One of the most interesting tidbits buried in the data is the "first-time voter" surge. Michigan saw 826,688 people cast ballots who had no previous voting history in the state or hadn't voted in 2020.
Roughly 255,140 of the people who showed up at an early voting site didn't participate in the 2020 election at all. That suggests the convenience isn't just poaching voters from Tuesday; it's actually growing the pie. It’s making it possible for the person working two jobs or the parent with no childcare to find a 20-minute window on a Thursday afternoon to get it done.
Wayne County vs. Washtenaw
The geographic divide is still real, though. In Wayne County—home to Detroit—about 58% of voters got their ballots in before Election Day. Compare that to Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor), where that number skyrocketed to over 67%.
Washtenaw remains a powerhouse for the permanent mail-in list, but the in-person early sites were packed too. It’s a different vibe than the rural counties where "voting on Tuesday" is still a deeply ingrained cultural ritual for about half the population.
The technicalities of the 2024 results
It’s important to realize that Michigan is one of only five states that actually saw higher turnout in 2024 than in 2020. Most of the country saw a dip or stayed flat.
Why?
The infrastructure.
Every 5,000 voters in Michigan now have access to a secure drop box. There’s a permanent mail-in list that makes it so you don’t have to request a ballot every single time. And then there’s the pre-processing. Because clerks could start processing (but not counting) ballots before Election Day, we didn't have the "Red Mirage" or "Blue Shift" drama that lasted for days in 2020. By 9:00 p.m. on election night, once the three counties in the Central Time Zone closed their polls, the data started flowing fast.
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Common misconceptions about the "Early Vote"
People often confuse "early voting" with "absentee voting." They aren't the same.
- Absentee: You get a ballot in the mail, fill it out at home, and mail it back or drop it in a box.
- Early In-Person: You go to a site, show your ID, get a ballot, and feed it into the tabulator yourself.
The second option is what was new for 2024, and it’s what really helped balance the load. It gave people the "I Voted" sticker and the physical experience of the booth without the two-hour wait on a rainy Tuesday.
What this means for future Michigan elections
If you’re looking at these early voting results Michigan provided as a one-off, you’re missing the bigger picture. This is the new baseline. The data shows that 43% of the people who voted early in person this year were actually Election Day voters in 2020. They’ve migrated.
They liked the shorter lines. They liked the flexibility. They probably aren't going back.
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For candidates, this changes everything. You can't just run a "Get Out The Vote" (GOTV) campaign on the weekend before the election. You have to be "on" for three weeks. If you aren't reaching voters by the time those early sites open, you've already lost a fifth of the electorate.
Actionable steps for Michigan voters
If you want to make sure your vote is handled efficiently in the next cycle, there are a few things you can do based on what we learned from the 2024 data:
- Join the Permanent Mail Ballot List: If you prefer voting from home, this is the easiest way. You’ll automatically get a ballot for every election. No more paperwork every time.
- Track Your Ballot: Use the Michigan Voter Information Center (MVIC) website. You can see exactly when your ballot was mailed to you and when the clerk received it back.
- Use the Mid-Week Window: The data shows that early voting sites are most crowded on the first and last days of the nine-day period. If you want to be in and out in five minutes, try a Wednesday or Thursday morning.
- Verify Your Local Site: Not every precinct has its own early voting site. Often, multiple townships or cities share one "hub." Check your location on the Secretary of State website before you head out.
The 2024 results proved that Michigan’s system is robust. It handled record-breaking numbers without the catastrophic system failures that some feared. Whether you’re in the UP or downtown Detroit, the way we vote has changed, and the 2024 data is the proof that the change is likely here to stay.