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MICHIGAN, USA (WNEM) — Clerks across the country are swamped.
“We had a steady line out to the parking lot all day today,” said Grand Blanc Township Clerk Cathy Lane. “There were 10 people in line at 8 this morning and I had one man using inappropriate language when I had to turn him away at quarter after five.”
It’s been a busy day and past couple weeks for Lane. As absentee ballots and early voters pour in it’s only going to get busier.
“We just completed 15,221 absentee ballots,” Lane said.
Keep in mind, Grand Blanc Township has around 30,000 registered voters. 15,000 is half the township and it’s only Friday.
“None would be duplicates because we have auditing forms to make sure nobody gets two votes,” she said.
In anticipation for this astronomical amount of absentees Lane has added three extra absentee counting boards, who will be tallying votes from Tuesday morning until…
“I bet it’s well after midnight,” she said.
Sounds overwhelming but the clerks and election officials have to abide strict guidelines to ensure your vote is counted.
“Let’s say I went in and I did my absentee ballot today and dropped it off,” said Genesee County Clerk John Gleason. “What happens to that ballot after that? When you drop it off to your local clerk, they are supposed to begin the administration of that ballot immediately. They normally put it in a collection box separated by precinct.”
The ballots aren’t allowed to be run through the tabulator until Tuesday morning.
“The local clerk must open the envelope it’s mailed or delivered in,” Gleason said. “Then you must take the ballot out of the secret envelope inside the postage envelope, then you have to flatten out that ballot itself and run it through tabulator.”
And they’ll follow that process and make their way through the mountain of ballots until everyone’s vote is counted.
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