Whitmer signs bill to give clerks 10 extra hours to open and sort absentee ballots

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Tuesday signed a bill that will give clerks in the state’s larger cities 10 additional hours to open and sort absentee ballots.

Both Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) had repeatedly lobbied the legislature’s GOP majority to pass such a measure, saying it was necessary to prevent major delays in reporting results, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The measure will also allow clerks to use an extra shift to process and count ballots and reach out to voters in the event of any problems with their signatures. It would not, however, apply the extra 10 hours to count the ballots in question.

Benson said the law signed by Whitmer would be a “step in the right direction” but that Michigan could still wait up until the remainder of election week for final results.

“In a democracy, everyone eligible, and every vote that is eligibly cast needs to be counted. And the will of the people must prevail,” Whitmer said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, an unprecedented portion of ballots cast in the elections are likely to be mail-in or absentee. A Michigan poll released Tuesday that shows Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden ahead by 9 points overall also shows him leading by 50 points among those who intend to vote absentee.

So far, Benson said, more than 2.7 million Michigan voters have requested absentee ballots and 380,000 have been returned.

“This is not going to be unique to 2020. We are indeed in a new normal, for our elections and for our democracy,” she said, according to the Detroit Free Press. “That’s why it’s so important, as I and clerks have been asking our legislature to do since I took office — update our laws to reflect this new normal.”