The day has come. Tuesday, Nov. 5 is Election Day in the U.S., and eyes are on Michigan as a swing state in the presidential race. Meanwhile, Democrats are fighting to maintain a razor-thin majority in the state House, other key roles of representation locally and in D.C. are in play, and races down the ballot will decide leadership in the realms of education and justice.
Here are the latest updates from Michigan on Election Day 2024:
1 Northville precinct relocates because of gas leak
A voting precinct in Northville, which is in both Wayne and Oakland counties, relocated on Election Day due to a gas leak.
Precinct 1, which is at the community center on Main Street, suspended voting operations Tuesday, the city announced in a Facebook post about noon.
Precinct 1 voters now need to go to Hillside Middle School, the city stated in another post.
That location is the site of Precinct 2 and is at 775 N. Center Street in the city.
Consumers Energy is on scene of the gas leak, the city stated.
-Darcie Moran
Backup tabulators deployed in Oakland County
Oakland County saw brief issues with vote tabulators on Election Day, officials confirmed.
Some precincts in a handful of communities such as Rochester Hills and Pontiac had problems earlier this morning with their tabulators, said Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown.
“That does not stop voting,” she said, noting that backup tabulators have since been deployed.
-Kristi Tanner
11:38 a.m.: Same-day voter registration surpasses August primary
In an update just after 11:30 a.m. on Election Day, election officials revealed same-day voter registration had hit 3,704.
In the August primary, same-day registrations were reported as 3,600, said Angela Benander, chief communications officer for the Michigan Department of State.
Turnout on Election Day had also crept up to about 46.1% of active, registered voters in Michigan, she announced. That includes 25,000 absentee ballots returned so far on Tuesday.
She said Michigan, at the time, had about 7,300 military overseas ballots that were still due back. Military overseas ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day and are accepted within six days after the election to be counted.
Both Flint and Detroit were reportedly moving swiftly in counting absentee ballots.
-Darcie Moran
11:03 a.m.: Concerns of treason out of Grand Rapids
Rodney Bragg, 58, of Grand Rapids, said he cast a straight party ticket for Democrats on Tuesday, as is the tradition for him and his family.
Standing outside LaGrave Avenue Christian Reformed Church near his city’s downtown area, he said he viewed Harris as a more trustworthy candidate and had been urging family members to vote for her. He believes she’s a step toward a brighter future.
A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Bragg said Harris would never back events like the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, something he said for which Trump is to blame.
“They called it an insurrection. To me, that was treason,” Bragg said. “I can’t accept that. They attacked the Capitol. I swore an oath.”
Grand Rapids is the heart of Kent County, a west Michigan county that’s emerged as a key battleground in statewide elections in recent years. While Trump carried Kent County on his way to winning Michigan in 2016, Democrats at the top of the ticket have won there in each statewide election since 2018.
Trump, in what’s become a tradition itself, held his final rally before Election Day in Grand Rapids, giving a nearly two-hour long speech to supporters at Van Andel Arena which ran past 2 a.m. Tuesday.
-Arpan Lobo
9:30 a.m.: Working out on Election Day in Warren
Some voters were headed to an exercise class instead of the polls shortly after 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Warren Community Center, south of 14 Mile Road west of Mound Road.
Kevin Klindt, 51, stood in line for about an hour for early voting at Warren City Hall roughly a week ago, he said. He voted for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I think she’s a better leader than Donald Trump,” he said.
He’d like to see the Democrats successfully back a woman as president. He also backs the Democrats because he feels that party has helped him a lot with Social Security; he is on disability related to mental health.
Linda Gardner, 77, also at the center, said she voted absentee about a month ago for Harris.
“I think all these old guys need to just move over a little bit,” Gardner said, including GOP candidate former President Donald Trump, who is 78.
She recalled Trump’s portrayal of current President Joe Biden, 81, as too old and noted how close they are in age.
Gardner said she is also concerned that Trump is “quite unpredictable as far as his presence on the world stage.”
-Susan Tompor, columnist
9:10 a.m.: More than 800 register for same-day voting
More than 3.3 million voters already cast their vote in Michigan between absentee ballots and early voting, delivering a turnout rate of 45.8% of active, registered Michigan voters, said Angela Benander, chief communications officer for the Michigan Department of State, in a morning call with reporters.
On Tuesday, 8,000 absentee ballots were also returned and 829 people registered to vote Tuesday through same-day voter registration, she said. Turnout was also looking good at voting sites.
There was one location reporting massive lines: Grace Emmanuel Baptist Church in Flint, she said. However, the line there is said to be moving quickly, despite its presence.
There have been typical “blips” but no major concerns and no reports of weather-related issues or closures, said Benander. More than 100 department employees are monitoring on the ground Tuesday and agencies are prepared for any potential disruptions.
Benander also offered a story positive in the eyes of her team, saying a Wexford County high school government teacher took his whole class to watch him vote so they could see how the process works.
– Darcie Moran
8:30 a.m.: Groceries, day care and result timing in Warren
Vasilios Raspoptsis, 33, of Warren, said his family used to spend $200 or $220 a week on groceries before inflation took off. Now, it’s roughly $400 a week, even as they shop for deals at Meijer, Aldi and Costco.
He’s also a stay-at-home dad for a 3- and 4-year-old while his wife works in billing at a waste management company. It makes more sense instead of the family paying thousands of dollars for day care, he said.
He voted for Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012, and then voted for GOP candidate Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. He again cast a vote for Trump on Tuesday at the Fitzgerald Recreation Center in Warren.
He’s dismayed to hear news reports suggesting it could take several days to know the results of the presidential election.
“Why can’t we get them counted in a day?”
Warren is the biggest city in Michigan that decided not to process absentee ballots before Election Day, despite a change in law that would allow it, the Detroit Free Press has reported.
It’s also the only large community in Macomb County not preprocessing ballots, according to County Clerk Anthony Forlini.
Macomb County voters will help decide a number of key races in the election.
-Susan Tompor, columnist
8:20 a.m.: A call to civic duty in Dearborn
Christina Harrison, 34, of Dearborn is rooting for Harris to win the presidential race. But speaking at the Charles A. Lindbergh Elementary School in Dearborn, she said she hopes there will be no political violence whatever the outcome.
Harrison encouraged others to come out and vote, noting the importance of local races beyond the presidential campaign, she said.
“I think that everyone should feel like their voice matters, that it should be heard,” Harrison said. “You can’t expect any change to happen in the country unless you’re willing to go out and vote for — even if it’s not the main two candidates. I think your voice should always be heard.”
– Jenna Prestininzi
8:17 a.m.: Family voting and seeking trust in Trenton
Damian Fredrick walked out of Trenton City Hall with his wife and two daughters after casting their votes on Election Day.
Frederick, 50, of Trenton, said that not only was it his “civic duty” to vote, but he also wanted to show the importance of voting to his daughters, ages 20 and 22.
“We have a first-time voter in the house,” Frederick said. “So, I wanted her to be comfortable and know how important it is.”
Fredrick said the three issues that were on his mind were inflation, immigration and security. He also said that the tension headed into this year’s election was “higher than historically” for him.
“People are just aggressive,” Frederick said. “I even read it online. Their speech, the way they talk about their candidates. It’s just very aggressive.”
Fredrick said he hopes to see results by Thursday, and hopes that “things are done correctly.”
“We have to have trust in our voting system,” he said. “And right now, I think that’s lacking.”
-Eric Guzman
7:34 a.m.: Thinking of ancestors while voting in Detroit
If Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris becomes president, it would be “monumental,” said 27-year-old Detroiter Lauryn Allen after she cast her ballot shortly after polls opened.
She waited in line for more than half an hour at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit, but that didn’t really matter. It’s exciting because a line means people are voting, she said.
“It’s humbling because I have that chance and opportunity to have a voice, and at one point, my ancestors didn’t,” said Allen, who lives on the west side of Detroit and works as a researcher at Henry Ford Hospital.
Watching Harris at rallies and on social media, Allen felt like the presidential candidate was the right choice. She was inspired by Harris’ passion.
A Harris win would mark a shift in how Black and brown girls see themselves and how men communicate with women, she said.
Allen expects to stay up all night for the results. In 2016 — the first presidential election she voted in — she recalls the quiet of her campus after GOP candidate Donald Trump won.
“But now me, being back home and me just feeling so energized and happy and excited for the future, I believe that when it gets closer to midnight and through the night, I’ll be excited,” she said.
– Nushrat Rahman
7:20 a.m.: Youth eyes school board race in Dearborn
Sounds from a nearby factory and traffic filled the air as Election Day kicked off Tuesday and a few voters trickled into Salina Intermediate School in Dearborn.
Sporting an apron, flyers and a sign, 18-year-old Abdulrahman Masherah of Dearborn walked along the sidewalk outside the school. Masherah, a senior at Edsel Ford High School, came out to support his preferred candidate for the Dearborn Public Schools Board of Education, Jamal Aljahmi.
“As the youth, if we don’t come out and help, what’s the point? We need to be out here. We need to be involved in this type of stuff,” Masherah said.
-Jenna Prestininzi
A line formed just after 7 a.m. at the Northwest Activities Center in the Schulze neighborhood of Detroit as voters prepared to cast their ballot on Election Day. As they did, a DJ kicked things off to the tune of “Happy” by Pharrell Williams to energize the crowd outside as volunteers passed out political flyers to people.
“We’re trying to bring excitement to voters, to get them up to vote,” said Jacqueline Kapilango, who goes by DJ Asset, a volunteer and DJ at the Polls.
– Nushrat Rahman
7 a.m.: Polls open across (most of) Michigan
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. local time in Michigan today. Four counties in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are on Central time, while the rest of the state is on Eastern time.
If you are in line by 8 p.m., you should remain in line and have the right to cast your vote.
6:45 a.m.: Voters line up in Warren
Some 25 voters already stood in line at Fitzgerald Recreation Center on Nine Mile Road in Warren before doors opened on Election Day — and the line quickly grew to more than 50.
Nathalia Damasceno, 30, who is Latina, is voting for the first time since becoming a U.S. citizen in 2023. She said she did not particularly like GOP candidate former President Donald Trump or Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris.
The student at Lawrence Tech University is frustrated with how Democrats let inflation get out of control and how housing prices soared.
She said Trump doesn’t sound like the best choice, either, given his selection of appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court and the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court abortion ruling. She’s also concerned that Trump supporters don’t want to hear differing viewpoints.
She doesn’t feel represented by either candidate, but she plans to vote for Kamala Harris.
Others in line planned to cast their ballot differently.
Michael Griffin, 71, of Warren, and his wife, Shirley Griffin, 74, stood among voters with plans to vote for Trump.
The retirees both voted for Trump when they lived in Indiana in 2016 and after they moved to Michigan in 2020.
Michael Griffin said he was “tired of all this crap, mainly the border and inflation.”
Griffin said he wasn’t a fan of boys playing in girls’ sports either. Concerns regarding transgender students have been fodder for GOP advertisements in the state.
But what really upsets him, he said, are illegal border crossings and how so many people have easily crossed the Mexican border into the United States.
He and his wife remain optimistic that Trump can win a second term in the White House.
“We talk about it all the time,” he said of the election.
“If he gets the turnout, he wins.”
— Susan Tompor, columnist
Michigan’s biggest 2024 election contests
The presidential race is looming over the whole nation, but is especially close in Michigan, one of seven key swing states this cycle. Polling in Michigan is close enough that it’s impossible to predict the outcome. And that’s not the only hot contest.
Michigan’s U.S. Senate race between Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers has been running tight, with the open seat considered a key prize for either party.
There are also three ultracompetitive congressional races. The 7th and 8th Congressional Districts near Lansing and Saginaw, respectively, have open seats. In the 10th Congressional District, it’s a rematch between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. John James and Democrat Carl Marlinga, who lost the district by just about half a percentage point last cycle.
-Staff
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Darcie Moran and Gina Kaufman also compiled and edited most entries with field reporters, and contributed writing to the entries.