(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/09/2024) The Michigan Republican Party and Trump campaign are encouraging voters to use absentee ballots and early in-person voting to help former President Donald Trump win Michigan, as evidenced by a flier paid for by the party.

The mailer reads “President Trump wants you to vote early,” and “voting early is safe & secure.”

Mark Grebner of Practical Political Data equated this change of tune to when executives at cigarette manufacturers get angry with their children for taking up smoking. 

“Sometimes, reality just comes, and even though you know it’s not acceptable to your political view, you finally have to accommodate reality,” Grebner said.

Just Tuesday, three Republican county clerks joined the Michigan Partnership for Secure Elections in a virtual briefing to communicate to voters that the electoral process is safe and secure.

A press release from the event says that election officials want every voter to know that election officials and poll workers receive training, everyday Michiganders from both parties are involved in the process, and there are tried and tested systems and checks and balances in place that make the electoral process safe and ensure accurate results.

It also says the process involves the “people in their own communities: dedicated friends, neighbors and coworkers.”

Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck and Livingston County Clerk Betsy Hundley participated in the event. 

“As election officials in Michigan, it is of the utmost importance to us that Michigan residents understand they can trust our state’s elections,” Hundley said. 

Grebner said his data shows there have been about 1.95 million absentee ballot requests in Michigan with about 400,000 of them returned already. Of those, 60 percent of the returned ballots came from voters he projects to have voted Democratic. Inversely, it’s likely that a larger percentage of in-person Election Day ballots cast will be for Republicans, he said.