During the 2024 election, Michigan’s voter turnout was ranked third in the nation. As this was the first presidential election after the passage of Proposal 2022-2, experts and interested parties were waiting to see the impact of the proposal on participation.
Statewide Data:
-
- 2024 broke the state’s prior record, set in 2020, and was one of only five states to increase voter turnout from the prior presidential election.
- Last year, 5.7 million votes were cast, which was 74.6% of eligible voters.
- 60% of ballots were cast via early voting or by mail.
- 2 million voted at an in-person early voting site.
- 2 million voted by mail.
- As of December 5, 2024, over 25% of active registered voters joined the permanent vote by mail list.
- Over 820,000 voters were first-time voters, making up 14.5% of total turnout.
- Over 71,000 voters who were eligible and registered to vote but inactive cast a ballot.
County Data:
-
- The counties with the highest turnout of active registered voters were Leelanau (89%), Livingston (86.4%), Keweenaw (85.2%), Clinton (84.7%), and Grand Traverse (83.6%).
- Counties with the lowest turnout of registered voters were Wayne (70.5%), Calhoun (71.2%), St. Joseph (72.3%), Branch (72.4%), and Clare (73.1%).
- Counties with the highest percentage of voters casting a ballot by mail or at an early voting site were Benzie (74.0%), Grand Traverse (71.3%), Washtenaw (71.0%), Livingston (70.7%), and Roscommon (70.6%).
- Counties with the lowest percentage of voters casting a ballot by mail or at an early voting site were Arenac (42.2%), Missaukee (42.5%), Oceola (42.8%), Luce (43.4%), and Gratiot (43.4%).
Proposal 2022-2:
-
- Requires at least nine days of early voting.
- Gave every voter the option to join a permanent mail-in ballot list.
- Requires ballot drop boxes for every jurisdiction.
- This proposal was approved by over 66% of voters in 2018.
To read the full report by the Michigan Department of State, please click here.
