More than three million people have already voted in Michigan’s general election, but officials say they’re still expecting a busy day on Election Day as voters head to the polls.

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Shira Roza is the election protection director at Promote the Vote. She says her group is ready to help.

“Our nonpartisan election protection boiler room has in the past week alone responded to over 100 voting-related issues, from long lines at early voting sites to a lack of accessibility for voters with disabilities to voter intimidation,” said Roza.

To report issues or get assistance from Promote the Vote, you can call their hotline 866-OUR-VOTE. If you feel physically threatened at a polling place, call 911. 

Polls close at 8 p.m. in Michigan — excluding the Upper Peninsula counties of Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron and Menominee, which are in the Central Time Zone and will close their polling locations at 9 p.m. ET. Follow along with WDET on-air and online at wdet.org/electionresults for local, state and federal election results updated in real-time by the WDET News team.

—Reporting by Russ McNamara, WDET

Other headlines for Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024:

• Polls across Metro Detroit are open until 8 p.m. If you’re in line by 8, you will be allowed to vote no matter how long it takes.
• Poll workers are keeping an eye out for possible disturbances, so don’t wear campaign-related clothing to the polls, and make sure to listen to the instructions that poll workers are giving you.
• At the top of today’s ballot, Republican former President Donald Trump faces off against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. The candidates and their running mates have made several trips to Detroit in the past few weeks, making their cases for your votes. There are also several other presidential candidates on the ballot, from a wide array of political parties.
• In the race for U.S. Senate, Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers are battling for the seat left open when incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow decided not to run for reelection.
• Here in the city of Detroit, there are two Congressional races. The 13th Congressional District covers the eastern half of the city and parts of Downriver.  In that race, Democratic incumbent Shri Thanedar faces Republican challenger Martell Bivings.
• On the city’s far west side, Democratic incumbent Rashida Tlaib faces Republican challenger James Hooper for the 12th Congressional District.
• Among the many other races on the ballot are contests for the Michigan Supreme Court, the 36th District Court, the Detroit School Board, and the Wayne State Board of Governors. There are also two educational millages.
• If you have questions about the general election or what’s on your ballot, visit the WDET Voter Guide at wdet.org/voterguide. 
• And be sure to follow along with WDET on-air at 101.9 FM and online at wdet.org/electionresults for local, state and federal election results updated in real-time.
• In non-election news, ESPN is reporting that the Detroit Lions have made a trade for Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Za’Darius Smith to bolster its defense.  The team plays the Houston Texans Sunday night. 

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Michigan is among 47 states in the U.S. that have early in-person voting this presidential election.

More than 500,000 people have voted early and in-person since it began statewide on Saturday, and more than two million votes have been cast across the state when including absentee ballots.

However, this increase in voting access is seemingly connected to a rise in mistrust of election integrity and claims of fraud.

To discuss this phenomenon, Created Equal host Stephen Henderson was joined on Wednesday by David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, and political science professor Dale Thomson.

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Becker explained that although we do not have much data on the effect of early voting access on voter turnout, early voting improves election integrity by mitigating the effects of family emergencies, technical difficulties, dangerous weather, and disinformation. He also described how some voters perceive the inclusion of more people in democracy to be inherently fraudulent and insecure, especially as they are exposed to a lot of negative rhetoric about election security. 

Thomson explained that although there is no evidence of widespread election fraud in recent years, the Trump campaign is using claims of election fraud to cast doubt on election results. He also discussed how immigrants are often targeted with claims of election fraud, even though there’s very little quantitative evidence that non-citizens are committing fraud on a wide-scale. 

“A study conducted by the [Brennan] Center for Justice analyzing almost 24 million votes across 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 general election concluded there were approximately 30 instances of non-citizens voting. So there’s data out there,” Thomson said. 

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Guests:

• David Becker is the executive director for the Center for Election Innovation & Research. He’s also the author of “The Big Truth” and host of the podcast The Count.
• Dale Thomson is a professor of political science at University of Michigan – Dearborn. He is also the director of the Ottawa Internship Program.

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

Absentee ballots will go in the mail this week to Michigan voters who have requested them. The Thursday mail drop kicks off the early voting season in Michigan headed toward the November elections.

Easier access to absentee and drop off ballots as well as earlier in-person voting are among the voting options available under an amendment to the Michigan Constitution approved by voters in 2022.

There is still time for people to request an absentee ballot, said Christopher Thomas, a former state elections director who’s worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations. He said people already on the absentee ballot list should see ballots in their mailboxes by early October.

“So if the ballots are available as required this Thursday, I would give it at least a week,” he said. “And, of course, you can track your AV ballot.”

The state’s elections website at Michigan.gov/vote allows people to follow their absentee ballot from the request to ensuring it was counted. There is also still time to request a ballot through the website.

Thomas said he expects more than 40% of voters to use a mail-in ballot or a ballot drop box or early in-person voting in this year’s election. Both Democrats and Republicans are encouraging their party’s voters to use any of those methods to cast their ballots before Election Day.