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Michigan has set a new record for voter turnout at 5.67 million ballots cast in the 2024 general election, beating the previous state record set in the 2020 general election by more than 100,000 votes.
This is a positive sign for democracy, Democratic Secretary of State for Michigan Jocelyn Benson said at a news conference Wednesday in Detroit as the data was coming in pointing towards record-breaking turnout.
“These numbers were the result of voter education efforts and programs which were implemented, along with partners in the business community, the faith community and many others throughout the state,” Benson said.
Michiganders were highly engaged in this year’s election, with both presidential candidates making more than a dozen personal visits throughout the state each and their surrogates traveling across Michigan to seek out voters.
More than 2 million people voted in-person on Election Day and about 3.4 million people took advantage of early voting options by either voting in-person before Election Day or submitting an absentee ballot.
“It’s easy to remember years before 2020 when turnout was typically under 5 million,” Benson said Wednesday. “We crossed 5 million once in 2008 and then blew past that in 2020 to 5.5 [million] and so our hope was that we would meet or exceed 5.5 [million]. We did that and I consider it a success.” Benson said.
Election workers represent the best of the state, Benson said Wednesday, as many worked through the night on Tuesday into Wednesday morning to ensure every eligible voter who casted a ballot was accounted for in the election.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.