How to read thisMichigan doesn't register voters by party, so there is no party split here: the counts show how many ballots are in, not who they are for. Comparisons line up 2026 with past elections at the same number of days before Election Day. Early ballots are not a forecast of the result. Methods & sources
What the numbers say
Ballots cast before Election Day, by days out
Michigan SOS Voter Participation Dashboard, daily statewide. 2026 in bold; dots = actual daily values. 2022 = three SOS press-release figures (no daily series survives). Absentee returned = ballots received by clerks (mail, drop box, in-office). Early in-person = the statewide early voting created by 2022's Proposal 2, first used in a general election in 2024.
Added per day: last 7 days (2026)
Daily change in absentee ballots returned (light) plus early in-person votes that day (dark). Weekends are low because clerks don't log returns.
Return rate: returned ÷ ballots sent
Share of absentee ballots mailed or issued that have come back, by days out.
Early in-person votes by day
Votes cast each day at early voting sites. The required statewide period is the 9 days ending the Sunday before Election Day; some cities open earlier.
Largest counties: absentee returned, 2026 vs 2024
Data coverage & gaps
Sources & caveats
- No party or race data. Michigan has no party registration, and the dashboard publishes counts only.
- 2024 was a presidential year. Midterm turnout is lower, so a gap against 2024 is expected. 2022 (midterm) is the closer comparison, but only three rounded press-release figures exist and their exact as-of times aren't stated (taken as the release date).
- Permanent absentee list: Proposal 2 (2022) let voters join a permanent mail-ballot list. By 2026 most requests (~95%) come from it, so ballots are sent to many voters automatically. That inflates "requested/sent" relative to 2022.
- The dashboard only keeps the current cycles (2024 general, 2026 primary and general). The 2024 series starts Sept 26, 2024; 2026 starts Sept 19, 2026. One 2024 value (Oct 9) is a clear dashboard glitch (returned briefly showed 1.20M, then 468K the next day) and is dropped.
- Counts are as recorded in the Qualified Voter File by local clerks, dated by the dashboard's count date. Small decreases occur when ballots are spoiled or rejected. "Total" = absentee returned + early in-person; voters who had an absentee ballot but voted early in person are counted under early in-person.