Nearly 1,000 Detroit voters cast ballots in the first several days of early voting for the August primary and free bus rides are on tap to get Election Day voters to the polls.
Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey has encouraged Detroiters to get out and vote and stressed that elections are safe and secure. The clerk hosted a Party at the Polls event on Saturday outside the Department of Elections Office on W. Grand Boulevard. In Detroit, 440 people took advantage of the first day of early voting, compared with 236 who turned out last year on the first day, according to Detroit Deputy Clerk Andre Gilbert.
Overall, 979 ballots were cast at early voting sites across the city through 5 p.m. Monday.
The primary election on Aug. 4 determines party nominations for Congress, state Legislature and Michigan governor. Voters will also get a chance to cast their ballot for transit and education proposals.
On Tuesday, a group of city-based religious leaders convened a news conference outside City Hall and urged council members during public comment to sign a public pledge to abide by the US Constitution and state election laws. The group encouraged city leaders to refuse to comply with any unlawful executive orders or requests for data from the US Department of Justice that seek to restrict voting.
Among the speakers was Dr. Louis Forsythe of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, who asked council members to “stand with me” and protect voters against any federal efforts to “interfere.”
The push comes as the DOJ intends to send election monitors to polling places in three Michigan cities, including Detroit, for the primary. While federal monitors typically observe elections in dozens of communities each cycle, the cities (Detroit, Lansing and East Lansing) that the Trump administration will monitor are Democratic strongholds, and Attorney General Dana Nessel has raised alarm over what her office called “baseless accusations” by the DOJ.
Federal officials have been ramping up scrutiny of Michigan elections amid President Donald Trump’s continued claims the 2020 presidential election he lost was rigged against him.
In Detroit, voter turnout for the midterms is anticipated to be about 20%, according to Winfrey.
As an incentive to boost participation, the city council district with the highest early voter turnout will get a block party, as part of Detroit’s Early Voting Challenge.
Gilbert said that each district has early voting centers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as well as in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center and at the Department of Elections headquarters.
“If you haven’t voted yet, you still have time,” he said. “We want to encourage people to get out, vote early and help your district claim its right to being the highest turnout district when it comes to voting.”
For those planning to cast a ballot on Election Day, the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) and DDOT are offering free rides to ensure that cost isn’t a barrier.
SMART will offer free rides in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. DDOT will offer the same free service on its routes within the city.
The free rides will be available from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Election Day. No fare, pass, or ticket will be required. The offer applies to every SMART service:
- Fixed Route buses, including major corridor, crosstown, limited-stop, and express routes
- Connector, SMART’s advance-reservation, curb-to-curb service
- ADA Paratransit, advance-reservation, curb-to-curb service for riders who cannot use fixed-route buses because of a disability
- SMART Flex, on-demand service in the Dearborn, Troy/Clawson, Auburn Hills/Pontiac, Hall Road, and Farmington/Farmington Hills areas
Riders who use SMART Connector or ADA Paratransit should still reserve their trips in advance. For route schedules, trip planning, and bus stop locations, riders can visit smartbus.org or call SMART Customer Service at 866-962-5515.
“DDOT and SMART share a commitment to keeping our region moving and our communities connected,” Robert Cramer, Detroit’s executive director of transit, said in a statement. “Making sure Detroiters can reach their polling place without worrying about a fare or a ride is exactly the kind of partnership that serves our residents best.”
