The nation, and maybe the world, is watching Michigan Wednesday morning as clerk’s offices across the state continue to count ballots.
Many states have been able to project their winners for national races like president and U.S. Senate, but Michigan is still too close to call, and here’s why: More people voted absentee this election than in person. That means extra time processing those ballots.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said at a press conference just after 10 p.m. Tuesday that an estimated 3.5 million absentee ballots were cast, while between 2 and 2.5 million people voted in person.
Those absentee ballots have had a major impact on the election.
As of 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Benson said on CNN that Michigan’s largest cities -- Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights -- all those are still being counted, with hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots still outstanding in those large cities.
“Workers who have been counting them throughout the night continue to count them today,” she said.
Only 55% of the unofficial votes have been counted at this point, said Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett on CNN to Chris Cuomo at about 7:15 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4.
In Wayne County there are 1,115 precincts. Currently, only 617 have been counted, Garret said. While she hopes to have results today, she doesn’t want “to be boxed in.
Just before midnight on Tuesday, the City of Grand Rapids issued a statement saying it received 55,000 absentee ballots. City Clerk Joel Hondorp said the city should complete its count Wednesday.
“I can’t express how thankful I am for the support of our poll workers and staff who worked long hours to welcome record numbers of voters this year,” Hondorp said. “It also was affirming to see citizens engaged and participating in our democratic process like never before.”
Unlike many other states, Michigan does not allow its absentee ballots to be counted ahead of Election Day.
In October, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill allowing clerks in communities with more than 25,000 people start preparing absentee ballots for counting a day early if they provide written notice to the Secretary of State at least 20 days before the election.
Election officials were still not allowed to open the inner secrecy sleeve or begin actual tabulation of ballots until polls opened on Election Day.
Benson said the high rate of absentee ballots has allowed for “potential false narratives, as we’ve seen and as we expect it to percolate on social media and come from candidates."
President Donald Trump falsely claimed victory during the early morning hours on Wednesday. He did so while states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin still have thousands of ballots to count.
While Trump had a sizeable lead on Biden early in the night, it began to shrink as votes continued to be counted, particularly in cities like Detroit and Grand Rapids.
As of 5 a.m., all three Midwestern states were too close to call, according to The Associated Press. Michigan’s vote totals favored Trump, 51.72% to 46.68% as of 5 a.m., with 81% of the projected vote counted, according to The Associated Press.
But as of 8:05 a.m., that lead had shrunk even further to 49.36% of the vote to Biden’s 49.09%.
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While the tabulations continue, Benson said she expects the state will have a “much more complete picture of Michigan by the end of today" and every vote will be counted.
“A lot can happen in the next few hours, right, so we want to be mindful we’re counting every vote," she said. "That’s what we can say with certainty. We’re on track to see every vote tabulated today and have unofficial results to report quite soon. Certainly within the next 24 hours.”
Benson said there is still a lot that could happen and they want to adjudicate any challenges Wednesday.
“We’re still mindful of the process. We’re going to have updates throughout the day," she said. "But that’s where we are right now. Cautiously optimistic we’ll have a much fuller report out of Michigan by the end of the day.”
More Election Coverage From MLive:
Too close to call: Battleground fight is on
All eyes on Michigan as presidential map tightens nationally
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