Record number of absentee ballots submitted to city of Marquette

MARQUETTE — Citizens of Marquette are getting involved in the upcoming election.

A record number of absentee ballots have been submitted to the city clerk’s office for the upcoming election, totaling close to 6,000.

The uptick in absentee ballots are the result of several factors, including recent legislation, and the ongoing pandemic.

“There’s a huge uptick in absentee balloting,” said Kyle Whitney, Marquette City Clerk. “It’s something that’s been increasing for years anyway, and then the laws in Michigan changed a couple years ago in 2018 to make it easier to make absentee ballots more widely available to people that want them. And then you couple that with a presidential election where we normally see more people voting, and then you couple that with the global pandemic, and people are uncomfortable with going out and voting in person in a lot of cases.”

Michigan’s Proposal 3, passed in 2018, changed deadlines to make absentee voting easier. The state also streamlined the voting process, so people don’t have to request a form in person.

The city of Marquette mails out ballots with stamps already on them to residents, further making the process easier.

Absentee ballots can be requested by mail a week before the election.

For more information, or to check voter registration, visit michigan.gov/vote.