The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, October 28, 2020 — 5

Results could take a while with record mail-in ballots 

In 
previous 
election 
cycles, 

results have been reported on 
election night as precincts tally their 
votes, with a winner being declared 
hours after polls close. This year, 
however, a final result may not be 
available for days or weeks after 
the election. With concerns around 
the safety of in-person voting, a 
record number of voters are using 
absentee ballots. The restrictions 
on when and how election officials 
count absentee ballots, as well as an 
expected increase in voter turnout 
for the particularly contentious 
election, make it unclear how long 
voters will wait for a result. 

This will be a particularly 

important factor in Michigan, a key 
state in the 2020 election, which 
had the smallest margin of victory 
in the 2016 election and had record 
turnout in the August primary. 

Michigan’s 
ballot-counting 

plan

In 2018, Michigan legislators 

passed a no-excuse absentee voting 
law, meaning anyone can request an 
absentee ballot without providing 
their reasoning, likely resulting in an 
increase in the number of absentee 
ballots. Michigan Secretary of 
State Jocelyn Benson also mailed 
applications for mail-in ballots to 
every registered voter using funding 
provided by the federal government 
through 
the 
Coronavirus 
Aid, 

Relief and Economic Security Act. 
The goal is to prevent the spread 
of the coronavirus, ensuring “no 
Michigander has to choose between 
their health and their right to vote.”

In recent weeks, the rate of 

spread of COVID-19 has increased 
in Michigan. In an Oct. 21 press 
conference, 
Michigan 
Gov. 

Gretchen Whitmer said the COVID-
19 situation in Michigan is getting 
worse and that she was “sounding 
the alarm.” 

“I’m just going to be frank: our 

numbers are not good,” Whitmer 
said. “They’re moving in the wrong 
direction.” 

In the August primary, more 

absentee voter ballots were cast 
than 
in 
any 
other 
Michigan 

election. Out of the 2.5 million total 
votes cast in Michigan, 1.6 million 
of those were from absentee ballots. 
The previous record for absentee 
ballots was 1.3 million in the 2016 
presidential election. Benson has 
said she expects at least 2.4 million 
people to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 
election. 

The rules for handling these 

absentee ballots, however, may 
result in vote counting delays. Clerks 

cannot begin opening and counting 
ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day, 
the same time the in-person polling 
locations open. With so many votes 
being cast by mail, this will likely 
take longer than in previous years. 

Not only will more absentee 

ballots be cast, but more votes will 
likely be cast overall. The 2.5 million 
votes in the August election was a 
record for primary election votes, 
and election officials said they 
believe approximately 5 million 
Michigan voters are expected to 
participate in the general election. 

Benson has discussed the likely 

delays on Election Day, explaining 
in an NBC interview there will 
likely not be full results on election 
night. 

“We should be prepared for this 

to be closer to an election week as 
opposed to an Election Day,” said 
Benson. “The bottom line is that we 
are not going to have the full results 
and accounting of all of our ballots 
on election night. We already know 
that. We’ve asked the legislature 
to make changes to the law to give 
us more ability to be prepared and 
count those ballots more efficiently 
— they have not acted, for reasons I 
don’t fully, completely understand.”

She also discussed the steps 

election officials are taking to count 
voters more quickly and efficiently, 
while stressing the importance of 
accurate reporting. 

“We’re increasing tabulators, 

we’re increasing capacity to more 
efficiently 
and 
securely 
count 

those ballots — but I’m also laser 
focused on accuracy,” said Benson. 
“If it takes a few extra days to make 
sure we have a full and accurate 
counting of the results of every race, 
that’s what it’s going to take. We’re 
going to be transparent throughout 
that whole process to make sure 
every citizen knows exactly where 
we are in the counting process and 
how many more ballots we have to 
get through.”

Washtenaw 
County 
Clerk 

Lawrence Kestenbaum said he 
believes many election offices, 
and certainly those in Washtenaw 
County, are equipped to quickly 
count ballots and provide results. He 
also acknowledges some Michigan 
cities, such as Detroit and Flint, will 
likely have a harder time providing 
results quickly, as they have opted 
not to pre-process ballots. 

“So, there’s been a lot of thought 

put into these things and we’ve 
made a lot of progress,” Kestenbaum 
said. “I’m very confident that it 
should go smoothly, at least in 
Washtenaw County. Contrary to 
some of the rumors that are going 
around, there’s not going to be a 

delay in counting absentee ballots. 
Absentee ballots will be counted 
on Election Day at the same time as 
other ballots and they’ll be reported 
on election night the same as other 
... precincts.” 

Kestenbaum said he does not 

agree with claims in the media 
about Michigan being one of the 
last states to report.. He believes 
the results will be in by the next 
morning. In other elections, such 
as the March primary, results were 
reported before 10 p.m., only hours 
after polls closed. 

Concerns 
circling 
around 

mail-in ballots

Some are concerned about an 

increase in voter fraud in this 
election cycle, particularly resulting 
from the increase in absentee 
voting.. 
Others 
are 
concerned 

ballots will be invalidated because 
of strict laws surrounding how 
mail-in ballots are placed in the 
envelope and signed. 

Though Trump’s administration 

has planted seeds of doubt about the 
legitimacy of mail-in ballots, voter 
fraud in the United States is very 
low. 

Nick Schuler, vice chair of College 

Republicans at the University of 
Michigan and LSA sophomore, 
discussed how he thinks in-person 
voting can be made safer and how 
mail-in voting can still happen, 
while reducing the risk of voter 
fraud. 

“I think we should do voting as 

usual, but obviously with increased 
sanitary measures at the polling 
places, ...,” Schuler said. “But should 
someone not feel comfortable voting 
in person, despite those measures, I 
think they should be able to request 
a mail-in ballot like you can every 
other election … I don’t see the 
need to just automatically send 
(applications) to everyone when you 
can request one like normal (which 
would be) way less prone to fraud 
because you have to go through that 
process.” 

Regina Egan, LSA and STAMPS 

junior 
and 
communications 

director of College Democrats, 
wrote in an email to The Michigan 
Daily she believes mail-in voting is 
especially important in light of the 
COVID-19 pandemic. While she is 
not concerned about voter fraud, she 
is apprehensive about results being 
challenged and the focus of scrutiny 
centering on mail-in ballots. 

“All Americans deserve to be 

able to vote freely and safely,” Egan 
wrote. “In the middle of a pandemic, 
the ability to vote absentee or 
by mail is even more crucial in 
preserving American democracy 
and protecting American lives. I 

absolutely trust the mail-in voting 
system to be safe from things like 
voter fraud. What I am worried 
about is the fact that the large 
number of mail-in ballots is so 
unprecedented, which means that if 
the election is narrow enough, then 
those mail-in ballots will be highly 
contested in a long drawn-out, 
polarizing and partisan way.” 

In the August primary, 10,600 

ballots were rejected. 2,225 were 
rejected because the envelopes 
were not signed or the signature of 
the voter did not match that which 
the election office had on file. 

Because 
of 
Michigan’s 

importance in the election, these 
rejected ballots have become a 
concern for many voters. Trump 
won Michigan with only 10,704 
votes in 2016, almost the same 
number of ballots that were rejected 
in Michigan’s August primary. 

Kestenbaum tried to alleviate 

concerns about signature laws, 
explaining the ballots rejected as 
a result are a small proportion of 
ballots received. He also said clerks 
will try and contact voters to rectify 
problems with their ballots. 

“In 
Michigan, 
if 
it’s 
your 

signature and your handwriting, 
it’s not gonna be thrown out for 
being different,” Kestenbaum said. 
“The proportion of signatures and 
absentee ballots that fail signature 
matching is tiny. Historically, you 
know, it’s not a large percentage, 
by any means. The most common 
problem with the ballot is if 
someone forgets to sign it, the 
outside envelope. And the rules 
now are that if there’s time before 
the election, the clerk will contact 
the voter to have them know that 
they can come in and sign it or do 
something to remedy the problem.” 

Anxieties 
regarding 
the 

United States Postal Service 

Many voters and elected officials 

have also expressed doubts about 
the United States Postal Service, 
both in their ability to deliver ballots 
on time and to handle the sensitive 
nature of mail-in ballots. 

In the August primary, 6,400 

of the 10,600 ballots rejected were 
received after election day, and 
therefore could not be counted. 
USPS told Michigan and 44 other 
states in August they cannot 
guarantee mail-in ballots would 
arrive on time to be counted in the 
November election. 

These issues have largely arisen 

over the past few months, as the 
amount of mail and packages has 
increased during the COVID-19 
pandemic. Trump also appointed 
Louis DeJoy, a vocal Republican 
donor and Trump supporter, as 

Postmaster General in May of 2020, 
after the pandemic had already 
complicated voters’ ability to cast 
votes in person. 

DeJoy has made many changes 

to the agency, including limiting 
overtime hours, removing about 15% 
of high speed processing machines, 
reshuffling top leadership and 
implementing 
restrictions 
on 

transportation, all of which seem to 
be increasing delivery times. Eleven 
high speed delivery bar code sorters 
were removed from Detroit, a city 
many believe will have difficulty 
processing ballots on election day. 

Benson has discussed the steps 

Michigan is taking to ensure mail 
in ballots are received on time and 
the controversy surrounding USPS, 
including constant communication 
with 
postmaster 
leaders 
and 

creating drop boxes. 

“But we’re now also facing a 

perception issue — that the changes 
in the postal service, if nothing else, 
have created confusion and chaos 
where none existed prior,” Benson 
said.

Despite an initial court ruling 

that would have allowed Michigan 
ballots postmarked by Election Day 
that arrived up to 14 days after to be 
counted, the ruling was overturned 
by an appeals court earlier this 
month, reinstating the 8 p.m. 
Election Day deadline. 

Kestenbaum said more absentee 

ballots have been returned earlier 
this year, possibly eliminating some 
concerns that large proportions of 
ballots would not arrive on time. He 
also suggested those who have not 
returned a mail-in ballot yet to drop 
it off at a city or county clerk’s office. 

Many 
Republican 
politicians 

believe the increase in mail-in 
ballots through USPS will result in 
an increase in voter fraud, as Trump 
has often claimed. 

Kestenbaum explained clerk’s 

offices have procedures set up to 
ensure no ballot tampering occurs 
and have multiple people working 
together on sensitive tasks.

“We have a very good record 

in Michigan of administering 
elections in a completely clean 
and fair way,” Kestenbaum said. 
“Poll workers, by the way, have 
to identify their parties so you 
have two poll workers of different 
parties doing every sensitive task. 
So if it involves handling ballots, 
you have a Republican and a 
Democratic coworker together, 
doing whatever needs to be done 
with the ballots.” 

Schuler referred to a case in 

New Jersey where a USPS worker 
was arrested for allegedly dumping 
mail, including election ballots. But 

most experts say when problems 
arise with mail-in voting, they do 
not give either party an advantage 
and do not lead to a false election 
outcome. 

“I have all the respect in the 

world for the postal service, but I 
don’t think a simple postal worker 
should be in charge of delivering 
200,000 ballots that could swing a 
state and then swing the election,” 
Schuler said.

Kestenbaum disagrees with the 

concerns about USPS handling 
ballots, saying poll workers will 
handle ballots correctly. 

“Postal workers are busy and 

they’re dealing with a tremendous 
quantity of mail all the time,” 
Kestenbaum said. “And the idea 
that they would single out a piece 
of mail, out of the thousands of 
pieces that they’re dealing with at 
any given point and say, ‘aha, this 
is someone from the wrong party, 
so I need to get rid of their ballot.’ — 
they don’t have time for that. ... So I 
think the American postal service is 
trustworthy.” 

When asked how he expects 

election results to unfold and how 
Trump will react, Schuler said he 
thinks the president will respect 
the election outcome, but that the 
way it is decided will certainly be 
interesting. 

“I think that the president 

will respect the outcome of the 
election,” Schuler said. “But again, 
that being said, this election is going 
to be interesting. Who knows what’s 
gonna happen, when the results are 
coming. You know, we could have 
a Gore-Bush scenario where the 
Supreme Court has a lot of sway, so 
we’ll see.”

Egan 
also 
mentioned 
the 

drawn-out 2000 election between 
former Vice President Al Gore 
and former President George W. 
Bush, explaining she thinks a clear 
result would help reassure people 
the government is still functioning 
correctly. 

“Concerns about US electoral 

processes go back even before 
2016 to 2000 with Gore and Bush,” 
Egan wrote. “I believe Americans 
want fast and clear results after 
election night because it proves that 
American democracy is safe and 
working, and the 2000 presidential 
election was anything but that. 
If a large number of ballots is 
invalidated for technicalities, then 
this points to some part of our 
electoral process that is not working 
because American votes are not 
getting counted.”

Daily 
Staff 
Reporter 
Emma 

Ruberg can be reached at eruberg@
umich.edu

EMMA RUBERG
Daily Staff Reporter

In 2016, LSA senior Cory Dubin, 

a high school senior at the time, 
walked into his local polling station 
in White Lake, Michigan. Under 18 
at the time, he wasn’t there to vote, 
but to be a poll worker. 

He said he walked out of the 

polling station with new insights on 
existing barriers to voting. 

“Having worked at the polls, 

there were certain things where I 
noticed that people were missing 
the opportunity to vote,” Dubin 
said. “Not because they just didn’t 
know there was an election or 
something but because of mainly, 
voter (mis)education … People who 
want to vote should have the right 
to do that — and there should be 
nothing standing in the way.”

Dubin 
became 
an 
Andrew 

Goodman Foundation ambassador 
his junior year of college. In this 
role, he works with the Ginsberg 
Center for Community Service 
and Learning and the Big Ten 
Voting Challenge to increase voter 
registration across the University of 
Michigan campus. 

The Big Ten Voting Challenge, 

founded in 2017, aims to produce 
civic engagement and increase 
voter participation among students 
across the 14-school conference, 
including the University. Ahead 
of the 2020 election, the Big Ten 
Voting Challenge has worked with 
the Ginsberg Center and other 
organizations across campus to 
increase voter participation among 
University students. 

Michigan is a state where 

students 
could 
prove 
to 
be 

especially important, since it is 
considered a key battleground 
state in the 2020 election. In 2016, 
President Donald Trump beat 
then-Democratic nominee Hillary 
Clinton by just more than 10,000 
votes in Michigan. 

In 
2016, 
37,456 
University 

students were eligible to vote, and 
about the same number or more 
are eligible to vote in this upcoming 
election. However, only 25,557 were 
registered in 2016 and only 16,740 
ended up voting. 

Usually, Dubin and the Ginsberg 

Center would table and talk directly 
to students. Because COVID-19 has 
made traditional methods of voter 
outreach unsafe, the group has 
launched an Instagram page and 

other virtual outreach campaigns 
to encourage voters to participate in 
the electoral process.

“What I would say is that 

students 
really 
(have 
started 

to) realize their votes do make 
a difference,” Dubin said. “And 
whichever candidate you’re voting 
for, you can either extend that lead 
or minimize it. (So we need to make) 
sure that regardless of party, people 
do know that their votes do matter, 
and they actually can impact the 
results.”

LSA professor Josh Pasek, who 

focuses on political communication 
and how media influences political 
attitudes, said social media can be 
a useful tool to disseminate and 
receive voting information. 

“In 
addition, 
social 
media 

tends to display voting as a more 
normative behavior,” Pasek said. “So 
you’re less likely to see other people 
doing democratic participatory acts 
just walking around than you are to 
see them on social media.”

Due to efforts by organizations 

like the Big Ten Voting Challenge, 
in the 2018 midterms, the average 
number of registered student voters 
in the Big Ten conference hit 43%, 
3% higher than the national average 

student voting rate and more than 
double the rate in 2014. At the 
University, the number of average 
voters more than tripled from 2014 
to 2018, going from 14% to 41%. 

The passage of Proposal 3 in 

2018, a voter initiative that amended 
the state constitution and expanded 
voter rights of Michiganders and 
voter education efforts, also helped 
organizations like the Big Ten 
Voter Challenge reach students and 
get them registered to vote. The 
proposal allowed future elections 
to have same-day registration and 
absentee voting without an excuse.

This year, the Big Ten Voting 

Challenge has also launched the 
campaign “Student Orgs Vote!” 
which 
partners 
with 
student 

organizations to encourage their 
members to make a voting plan. 

Public Policy junior Lena Hoppe, 

philanthropy chair for Beta Alpha 
Rho, a pre-law and public policy 
fraternity on campus that has joined 
the campaign, said her organization 
had a meeting dedicated to sharing 
resources from the campaign.

“Especially for younger students 

or freshmen, I think it can be 
overwhelming for first-time voters 
… That’s why it’s important to lay 

everything out there,” Hoppe said. 
“And if you can vote, and here are all 
your options and your ways of doing 
this, we’re not forcing you to do it, 
just (encouraging) you to do it.”

Members of the Big Ten Voting 

Challenge also volunteer at the Ann 
Arbor City Clerk’s satellite office at 
the University of Michigan Museum 
of Art. The UMMA satellite office 
opened on Sept. 22, National Voter 
Registration Day, after efforts by 
campus organizations like the 
Creative Campus Voting Project to 
increase student voter registration 
and engagement. 

One of the volunteers, Public 

Policy senior Meredith Days, said 
it is encouraging to see students of 
all ages volunteering, registering to 
vote and casting their ballots at the 
UMMA. 

“There’s just a lot of people 

signed up to (to volunteer), which is 
great, and has been really exciting 
to see because it’s a lot of people 
that I don’t know,” Days said. “Like 
younger students, which is great 
because I feel like I know a lot of 
people who are seniors, but I’m glad 
that underclassmen are signing up 
to do this well.”

Jacqueline Beaudry, city clerk of 

Ann Arbor, said in an email to The 
Michigan Daily that the satellite 
office has registered 100 to 200 
student voters every day for the past 
40 days. 

“Student volunteers at UMMA 

with the Big Ten Voting Challenge 
have helped work the line, answer 
questions and hand out forms,” 
Beaudry said. “This has been a 
great assistance to the City Clerk 
staff working the registration tables 
and issuing ballots as quickly and 
efficiently as possible.”

Dubin, who also interns with 

the clerk’s office, said this year’s 
momentum in increasing voter 
turnout 
and 
emphasizing 
the 

importance of voting will impact 
future elections. 

“I do not think it’s going to be 

limited to just one election, where it’s 
like, ‘Okay, we voted, our candidate 
won, let’s call it a day,’” Dubin said. 
“Regardless of what happens in the 
election, you’re going to see voters, 
or potential voters really making 
sure that they continue to engage 
with the democratic process.” 

Daily Staff Reporter Julia Forrest 

can be reached at juforres@umich.
edu.

Big Ten Voter Challenge increases student participation

Concerted effort plays significant role in promoting turnout and involvement among college kids ahead of election 

Final tallies unlikely to come in on the night of the election, people overwhelmingly turn to absentee and early voting

JULIA FORREST
Daily Staff Reporter