LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Clerks in Lansing and East Lansing say they’re discovering ballots meant for different communities of their poll drop bins.
East Lansing Metropolis Clerk Marie Wicks says she’s recognized 35 ballots that ought to have been in heading to a different metropolis or state within the East Lansing Poll Drop Field on the Michigan State College campus.
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Likewise, Lansing Metropolis Clerk Chris Swope tells 6 Information his election crew has recognized “as many as 30” such ballots.
“I make an effort to contact the voter and let them know that they can pick up their ballot here at REO Road or we will mail it the following day,” says Swope by way of textual content message.
Ballots must be returned to the clerk who issued them as a way to be counted, each clerks notice. Each clerks additionally say their drop bins explicitly state the drops are for native ballots solely.
Wicks takes comparable actions in relation to ensuring voting is accessible for all.
“We just want to make sure their ballot arrives in time to be to be tabulated,” Wicks tells 6 Information. “So, it really — I think we just need to educate folks that they, again, they have to put their ballot in a mailbox putting it in our dropbox — certainly not on election night. That’s my biggest fear is that folks will put their ballot from another jurisdiction or another state in our drop box with the mistaken belief that it will be counted and it won’t. And that’s pretty heartbreaking.”
Ballots must be postmarked on Election Day, November 5, as a way to be accepted by mail. The USA Postal Service has warned ballots must be mailed by Tuesday, October 29, 2024, to make sure they arrive on time.
USPS experiences that, in 2020, greater than 99% of ballots have been delivered to clerks across the nation inside 7 days of being mailed.
Wicks additionally notes that college students who’ve lived in East Lansing for 30 days or extra can register to vote in East Lansing on the polls and solid their ballots. In the event that they haven’t despatched in an absentee poll, any beforehand issued poll will likely be canceled by registering and voting in East Lansing, she says.
To accommodate extra voters on the polls, she says there will likely be particular election facilities arrange in East Lansing to facilitate permitting college students to register to vote, get a poll, vote and feed their poll into the tabulator on election day.
She says so long as a voter is in line at 8 p.m. on Election Day, they are going to be allowed to solid their poll.
