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Michigan election results expected to be delayed due to number of absentee ballots

By Tim Skubick
Published  October 24, 2022 5:46pm EDT
2022 Midterm Elections
FOX 2 Detroit

Michigan SOS says election results will probably be delayed

Close races like the governor race in Michigan will likely be delayed as an influx of absentee ballots are tallied when the polls clothes on Nov. 8.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Michiganders most likely will not know who the next governor is when they go to bed on Election Day next week.

This is due in large part to the overwhelming number of absentee ballots that cannot be counted until after the polls close.

Related: Online voter registration for Midterms ends Oct. 24

Lawmakers approved a bill allowing clerks to pre-process those absentee votes two days before the vote which would speed up the counting process, but Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said that won't make a difference this year.

"The reality is the pre-processing legislation was enacted without any additional funding, and we told this to everyone involved in the deal that it was not one that we were really going to be able to act on because of the lateness and the lack of funding," she said. 

Because many local clerks did not have time to train workers on how to pre-process the avalanche of absentee votes, close race results will be late.

Read more election coverage here.

"People should still expect unofficial results will be ready within 24 hours of the polls closing on Nov. 8," Benson said. "Wednesday evening when especially the close races we'll know the full unofficial results of the election."