(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/06/2024) A higher percentage of voters cast ballots in the 2024 election than any other Michigan election since the Bureau of Elections started keeping such information in 1948 with 78.1% of registered voters casting ballots, the Secretary of State announced Wednesday.

In terms of volume, the number of voters was also record setting with 5,666,805 showing up, based on unofficial numbers. That number is 87,488 more voters than voted in 2020.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson noted that it was the third straight election cycle with high turnout. 

“Yesterday, Michiganders were able to cast their ballots, safely, securely and conveniently,” she said. “As in past elections, we saw thousands of new voters register and vote on Election Day – nearly 22,000 overall, and many were in East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and here in Detroit.”

Sweeping election law changes (including same-day voter registration in 2018) increased voter registration and turnout.

Benson said more than 2.2 million absentee ballots were cast, 1.2 million voted in-person early, and more than 2 million voted in person on Tuesday.

Benson said an estimated 6,000 military and overseas ballots remain outstanding and, as long as those ballots are postmarked by Election Day, they will be counted.

Benson also noted that polling places were “calm,” but not without incident. 

In Wayne County, there was a hold up in uploading data onto the website, and Benson said the Bureau of Elections is working with the county to understand what happened.

She reiterated that non-credible bomb threats targeted polling places in Washtenaw, Wayne, Genesee and Saginaw counties, which the FBI confirmed were tied to Russia.

Doctored videos circulated online after the polls closed also spurred allegations of unverified widespread voter fraud, including President-elect Donald Trump’s unproven claim of a “significant” police presence in Detroit’s polling locations.