MUSKEGON, Mich. — County clerks throughout the state are preparing for Michigan's presidential primary — the first election in the state with early voting.
Muskegon County election officials tested their tabulators Thursday in an effort to ensure accuracy.
One by one, they put 3,000 test ballots through the voting machines. Some of them were filled out incorrectly to make sure the machines wouldn't count them.
"We have tests within the stack that maybe people marked too many candidates for the position," Muskegon County Probate Court Judge Gregory C. Pittman explained.
"We want to make sure that every situation is addressed, every ballot issue," Muskegon County Clerk Karen Buie added. "It's important that we make sure that all the ballots from all the jurisdictions are run through our machines, and making sure that they're programmed correctly."
Buie says it's essential that the machines count every ballot accurately to catch ballots filled out improperly.
"It's just tabulating. It's not doing anything. It's not making any markings. It's just tabulating the ballot and keeping count of how many ballots come through," Buie added.
"So, this is, I think, as much as you can possibly do to help ensure to people that the accuracy, the fairness, the veracity of our elections is protected," Judge Pittman added. "This is a process that helps, hopefully, diminish the level of misinformation, increase the level of accurate information and, thereby, ensure that everybody feels good about what it is we do on election days."
Early in-person voting for the presidential primary starts on February 17.
"We're excited about it. We have no idea how many voters will take advantage of it, but we'll be here. I just think that we want to make sure that the community is totally comfortable with the election process, and that they understand that there were numerous security procedures put in place to make sure that our elections are safe and secure," Buie said.
Election Day is February 27.
You can request an absentee ballot, at least 15 days before Election Day, here.
