eputy Secretary reports safe, secure Election Day after polls close across Michigan

LANSING, Mich. - After the polls closed today, Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie thanked the thousands of election officials and poll workers for conducting a safe and secure Primary Election Day during a news conference in Detroit. Clerks will continue to report unofficial election results throughout the night on their websites and unofficial results are expected to be fully reported about 24 hours after polls close.

"We are proud to be running - in partnership with our 1,600 clerks statewide - yet another safe, secure, and successful day of voting," said Deputy Secretary Edevbie. "I want to make this clear: no matter how you vote, or who you vote for, you can be confident, as always, that your vote will count, and that the election results will reflect the will of the people. We made sure during this election cycle, especially today, that local communities had the tools they needed for this election. Our staff traveled across the state, assisting clerks and making sure things ran smoothly."

Before polls opened, the number of mail ballots returned for the 2026 primary had outpaced the total number of mail ballots submitted for the entire primary election in August 2022. More than 1.3 million voters cast their ballot before polls opened this morning, including over 139,000 voters who cast it at their early voting site. Because of Michigan's same-day voter registration law, more than 2,800 Michigan residents registered to vote and cast a ballot at their local clerk's office on Election Day.

Absentee ballot counting boards will continue working into the night as larger jurisdictions count hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots received today and before Election Day. Voters and the media should rely on the county clerk websites for updated unofficial results as the votes are counted.

After unofficial results are released, election officials will begin canvassing the results and reviewing all election processes to confirm accuracy and correct clerical mistakes. Bipartisan boards of county canvassers oversee this process, conduct any recounts, and are required under law to certify the amended results by Tuesday, Aug. 18. The Board of State Canvassers then conducts its own review of the processes and accuracy of the elections, and must vote to certify the results by Monday, Aug. 24. After the Board of State Canvassers certifies, the Primary Election results are final and official.

The Michigan Voting Dashboard displays voter history data from the Qualified Voter File (QVF); however, it is very unlikely that all clerks will upload their jurisdictions' e-pollbooks into the QVF by the time of the dashboard update the morning after Election Day. After unofficial results are reported by all Michigan counties, they will be available online at mi.gov/vote.

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