Absentee Ballot Returns Up 30% Over 2022; Automatic Mailing Changes Comparison
(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/06/2026) Michigan voters have returned 30% more absentee ballots than at the same point before the 2022 general election, although Practical Political Data’s Mark Grebner cautioned that automatic ballot mailings help explain the increase.
As of 7 a.m. today, 201,909 absentee ballots had been returned, compared with 155,142 four weeks before the 2022 election, according to the Secretary of State’s office. This year’s returns represent 2.7% of Michigan’s active registered voters, with four weeks remaining before the Nov. 3 election.
Grebner said this is the first gubernatorial election year in which voters on the permanent absentee list automatically receive ballots rather than applications to request them. He attributed the larger number of returns at this stage to that change.
“Absentee voting seems to be starting very slowly, but picking up speed with each day,” Grebner said. “Roughly like a glacier sliding down a mountainside. Or like a ship being christened and launched.”
The state reported 2,047,983 absentee ballot requests, including 1,967,830 voters on the permanent absentee ballot list. That compares with 1,603,912 requests at the same point in 2022, an increase of nearly 28%.
While the number of returned ballots has grown, the share returned relative to requests is similar: about 9.9% this year compared with 9.7% in 2022.
The returns include ballots submitted by mail, through ballot drop boxes or at local clerks’ offices. The Secretary of State’s office also announced that its Michigan Voting Dashboard is now posting county and municipal request and return figures, with daily updates planned through the Monday before Election Day.
Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie encouraged voters who have received absentee ballots to return them. Voters also have the option of voting in person during the early voting period, which runs statewide from Oct. 24 through Nov. 1, with some communities offering additional days, or at the polls on Election Day.
