Election Day 2022: Polls are now closed
Updated 8 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
It's 8 p.m. ET and polls are now closed across much of the state — although four western Upper Peninsula counties — Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron and Menominee — are in the Central time zone so polls there close an hour later at 9 p.m. ET.
It is also the deadline for returning an absentee ballot by drop box or to your local clerk. Remember, if you were in line before or at 8 p.m. stay in line because anyone in line by 8 p.m. must be allowed to vote.
Live results in state legislative races will flow in at thetimesherald.com/elections/results. And follow live updates here as unofficial results are recorded (Note: Results in Michigan become official when they are certified by boards of canvassers, a process that is allowed to take up to two weeks).
— Staff report
Last minute reminders before the polls close at 8 p.m.
Updated 7 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum and East Lansing City Clerk Jennifer Shuster have a few last minute reminders for voters, including that people who are in line at 8 p.m. can stay and vote.
“If you are in line, you can still exercise your right to cast your vote, you still have plenty of time to do so," Shuster said. "Also, make sure you’re going to the right polling location."
Byrum said if someone voted absentee, they need to check both sides to make sure it's filled out properly, they need to make sure to sign the back of the envelope so the signature can be verified, “and get that to their clerk or to their clerk’s drop box by 8 p.m. tonight.”
Follow live updates here as results are recorded beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Hit refresh in your browser window, or bookmark and reload this link to ensure you have the most recently updated version.
— Veronica Bolanos, LSJ news assistant
No one key issue for some Marysville voters
Updated 6:45 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
The motivation to hit the polls ran the gamut early this evening for voters in Marysville, where seats for mayor and three City Council positions were up for grabs.
Conservative voter Rick Wade said things like inflation drove him to vote overall.
But he said, “I wasn’t sure of some of the candidates,” particularly on local and state boards, which he said were harder to follow. He said he voted for incumbent Wayne Pyden for Marysville mayor over challenger Kathy Hayman, the council’s current mayor pro tem.
Abby Delay, too, said she wasn’t as familiar with all the local races. She said she voted Democratic and “yes” on Proposal 3, which would amend the state constitution to accommodate reproductive rights, including access to abortion.
Both that issue and the mayoral race drew her to the polls, she said. The 20-year-old said she voted for Hayman for mayor.
“I did some research before I came in. Obviously, you see the signs all around the city and things like that. Every time I would see a sign, I would look them up and see, ‘OK, who are you? What do you stand for?’ That kind of thing.”
Marysville resident Denis Napolitan said there wasn’t any one thing that brought him out, adding, “We never fail to vote.”
He said he also follows local issues and declined to name specific candidates he voted for in the city elections.
“It’s a small town. So, you sort of know a lot of the people you vote for,” Napolitan said.
– Jackie Smith, Times Herald reporter
Most Michigan counties will have some election results driven to county offices on flash drives
Updated 6 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Of Michigan’s 83 counties, most of them will have clerks physically driving election results to their county offices.
Michigan Secretary of State spokesperson Jake Rollow said during a 5 p.m. media call that about 65 or more counties would have local clerks driving flash drives with election numbers to their county clerk offices.
He said there’s no way to guess how long this will take.
Since the August primary, county clerks have worked to establish the best protocols for this process.
– Bryce Airgood, LSJ reporter
Michigan absentee ballot returns surpass 1.8 million
Updated 5:30 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Here are updated Election Day numbers from the Michigan Secretary of State office as of 5 p.m. ET.
- Absentee ballots submitted:1,807,127
- Absentee ballots requested: 2,022,885
- Same-day registrations: 8,828
Follow live updates here as results are recorded beginning at 8 p.m. Hit refresh in your browser window, or bookmark and reload this link to ensure you have the most recently updated version.
— Bryce Airgood, LSJ reporter
Newly a U.S. citizen, city’s DDA director casts first ballot
Updated 5:05 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Casting a ballot for today’s election was a first for 32-year-old Natacha Hayden.
Downtown Development Authority director for the city of Port Huron, she immigrated to the U.S. from Brazil at age 20, becoming an American citizen this summer. She registered to vote earlier today before filling out her ballot in person at the city clerk’s office.
“It was very different. I don’t know — it felt like I was doing something important — but overall, the process itself was very simple,” Hayden said.
City Clerk Cyndee Jonseck said Hayden was one of roughly 30 Election Day registrants today as of 3 p.m. City Manager James Freed later commemorated Hayden’s moment, posting a photo of her with an “I voted” sticker on social media.
“I’m very excited to be considered an American citizen right now,” Hayden added by phone. “I literally made (it) my duty to improve my community, and I feel that not only becoming a citizen but also contributing with the right to vote, it’s exactly what I signed up to do. You know, you’re contributing for the overall good of our community, if you will.”
– Jackie Smith, Times Herald reporter
Duplicate ballot numbers cause hiccup at polls in Detroit
Updated 4:43 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Certain polling locations in Detroit ran into some issues Tuesday morning when its election software was flagging in-person voters for already requesting an absentee ballot.
When polls opened Tuesday morning, election inspectors in some precincts received a message on the electronic pollbook screen indicating the “Ballot # has already been issued as Absentee Voter Ballot,” according to an emailed statement from the city of Detroit Department of Elections.
This message does not mean that the voter who was issued an absentee voter ballot was attempting to vote, the statement said, and instead was a “harmless data error.”
Ballot numbers for precinct voters were being generated which were identical to ballot numbers being used for absentee voter ballots, the department said, and the ePollbook system recognized the duplicate ballot numbers and issued the error message so that no two ballots would have the same ballot number.
It’s unclear how many polling locations and how many voters were affected.
The situation was resolved by adding an additional letter to the precinct ballot numbers to distinguish them from absentee ballots, the department said.
Jake Rollow, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State, said on a call with reporters Tuesday morning that voters issued provisional ballots before election inspectors added the extra letter will have their ballots counted. If a voter decided not to vote and left, they should come back and vote and won’t have any issues, Rollow said.
— Adrienne Roberts, Detroit Free Press
County clerk: Results may roll in before midnight
Updated 3:30 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
With just a few hours left before polls clothes, St Clair County Clerk Jay DeBoyer said no major issues had appeared to crop up at area precincts.
And that means, he said, “no news is good news.”
“I think we’ll have results before midnight,” the clerk said. “Things do seem to be going smoothly, and actually, the general in November is … an easier tabulation. Only because you actually have fewer candidates, right? A primary you have more candidates on the ballot.”
Unlike in past elections, when unofficial results could be uploaded remotely, the data of each tabulation from each precinct were driven to the county clerk’s office in person in the August primary.
DeBoyer said the practice would continue with today’s general election results. Results are uploaded through ElectionReporting.com.
– Jackie Smith, Times Herald reporter
Voting underway across Michigan; follow our live updates
Updated 2:45 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Across the Blue Water area, voters will select which candidates will take office in the state legislature, on county boards and more. In addition, voters also face a variety of ballot proposals. Among them:
More:Reminder: Dozens of local, state races on Tuesday General Election ballot
Times Herald staff will provide live updates to this blog throughout the day to keep you informed on competitive local races. Bookmark this page and click refresh to stay up to date.
– Jayne Higo, Times Herald news assistant
Gallery: Photos capture the excitement of Election Day
Updated 1:30 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Follow along with the day in images of polling places and voters, taken on this general Election Day across the Blue Water Area.
– Sergio Montanez, Times Herald photographer
Prop 3, voter integrity main concerns for mid-morning voters
Updated 12:14 p.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Fort Gratiot polls saw a large turnout with mid-morning voters. And Proposal 3 was mentioned the most as to what issue brought them to vote.
Amber Pawlek said she supports the proposal.
“I want to protect it for the future generations,” she said. “They should have the ability to get clean, safe medical procedures.”
Andrew Cook said he also believes Proposal 3 was the most important issue for him to vote on.
“I’m a pretty pro-life person,” he said.
Another issue important to voters was voter and election integrity. Susan Myles said she wants to know that that the election is being done fairly, and that votes are counted correctly.
“I wouldn’t want my ballot shipped somewhere else and counted there,” she said.
Pawlek said she thinks this election is the most important one because she feels she can exercise her voice better than in a national election. She said she feels her vote has an impact this election.
– McKenna Golat, Times Herald reporter
Economy, Proposal 3 top voter concerns Tuesday morning
Updated 10:25 a.m. Nov. 8, 2022
For many voters who headed to the polls early, the economy and Proposal 3 were at the top of their minds. Several voters said they were concerned about the rising cost of gas and consumer goods and hoped their candidate choices would quell rising inflation.
“The biggest issue in the economy,” said Lisa Parisio as she stood outside her polling location in Port Huron.
Several voters voiced opposition to Proposal 3, which would amend the state constitution to establish the right to reproductive freedom. Port Huron voter Nathan Drake said he is against abortion and believes the proposal is too extreme and deceptive in its language.
“It’s horrific,” he said.
Other voters voiced support for the divisive proposal. Jenna Worden, another Port Huron voter, was exercising her right to vote for the first time at age 18 with her mother, Julie Worden.
Both mother and daughter said they support Proposal 3 and a woman’s right to make their own decisions.
“I feel like everybody should have a choice of their own body,” Jenna Worden said.
– Laura Fitzgerald, Times Herald reporter
Follow along here for live updates on the Nov. 8 general election
Updated 10 a.m. ET Nov. 8, 2022
Today, Nov. 8 is Election Day! And your local news team at the Times Herald will provide live coverage throughout the day, including:
- Sharing of advance news stories
- News and photo galleries from polls across the Blue Water Area
- Live updates as results start coming in at 8 p.m. ET
Bookmark this page and click refresh throughout the day tomorrow to stay up to date. You can also follow us at Facebook.com/thetimesherald and on Twitter @thetimesherald for updates.
– Jayne Higo, Times Herald news assistant