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Kalamazoo Co. preparing for record midterm voter turnout

Posted at 4:23 PM, Nov 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-02 19:08:16-04

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Kalamazoo County officials say they're already seeing an increase in absentee ballots for the midterm election and are preparing for record turnout Nov. 6.

County Clerk Tim Snow says he expects 50 to 55 percent of registered voters in the county to head to the polls. He says that's a large jump from the typical 40 percent that midterm elections draw.

So far, his office has received 28,000 ballots, close to the 29,800 from the 2016 election.

"First it tells us that a lot of, I mean more people are using absentee ballots," he said. "You have to take that into consideration. The volume tells us that it’s going to be a good turnout. And uh, we expect that. We’ve been planning for it all year. The state has given us indication that you need to be prepared for a heavy turnout, so we are."

Snow says that there are also record numbers of absentee balloting in other counties like Livingston and Oakland.  He wants to remind voters to arrive early and to remember that the ballot is printed on both sides, so it's okay to bring a list of who and what you plan to vote for ahead of time.