Michigan Election Dashboard, Oct. 21, 2024 | Secretary of State
The Michigan secretary of state, alongside partners at the University of Michigan School of Information and the Center for Civic Design, has launched a new online dashboard where voters can access data on early and absentee voting.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced the dashboard’s launch last week in an effort to promote transparency and combat election misinformation.
As of 3 p.m. Monday, 1.02 million absentee ballots have been cast, with current voter turnout at 14.2%.
Data is posted starting 45 days before each Election Day, reporting the number of absentee ballots requested by voters, the number of absentee ballots completed and returned to be tabulated, and the number of ballots cast at early voting sites broken down by county and jurisdiction.
Data is updated daily with information from Michigan’s Qualified Voter File, the secure database used by the Michigan Bureau of Elections and more than 1,600 election clerks throughout the state. The dashboard will not display information about Michigan voters to protect their right to ballot secrecy.
“Democracy works best with an informed and engaged electorate, and I’m very excited today to announce our latest effort to make government more transparent and accessible to the people we serve,” Benson said in a statement.
“We know that election misinformation frustrates voters. We also know that official sources of information are more important than ever to help center our conversation on the rule of law, on the truth, and on the security of the system. Making those official sources of information more user-friendly, more accessible, and easier to understand makes them more useful. It prebunks misinformation and builds trust in our elections,” she said.
The Michigan Department of State and Bureau of Election are working with University of Michigan School of Information students to continue developing the dashboard as part of a year-long user experience capstone course. The team expects to release more data in 2025.
“University of Michigan School of Information students are shaping the future by tackling challenges at the intersection of people, technology, and data,” School of Information Dean Andrea Forte said in a statement.
Nearly 2,000 Detroiters cast ballots during the city’s 1st day of in-person early voting
“In this year of democracy, civic empowerment, and global engagement, we are proud to have the opportunity to partner with the Michigan Department of State and highlight the university’s commitment to elevating expertise and applying research that increases understanding, fosters transparency, and enables democracy to flourish,” Forte said.
Absentee voting is already open for Michigan residents with early in-person voting beginning statewide on Saturday. Canton Township, East Lansing and Detroit have already opened their locations.
Monday marks the deadline to register to vote online, but Michiganders can register to vote at their local clerk’s office with proof of residency until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
More information about voter registration and voting is available at Michigan.gov/Vote.
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