Major Michigan city decides against verifying mail ballots early, potentially slowing results

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A decision by the elections clerk in Michigan's third-largest city is raising concerns of a slowdown in reporting election night results in a county that is being targeted by both presidential campaigns and includes a competitive congressional race.

The city clerk in Warren, who also runs elections in the Macomb County city, has opted against using a new state law that allows election offices to start processing mail ballots before Election Day. The vast majority of voting jurisdictions in the presidential battleground state are taking advantage of the law, which allows them to start verifying signatures and other identifying information eight days early.

City Clerk Sonja Djurovic Buffa said that in light of other changes taking effect for election administrators this year, such as expanded early voting, she decided to process mail ballots on Election Day, just as her office has done for years.

She said processing those ballots at the same time is more efficient and suggested that processing them before Election Day opens the possibility of results being leaked early.

“Accuracy is the number one priority for me, and then speed is second,” Buffa, who has worked in elections for more than two decades, said in a written statement.

Under the law, passed as part of a broader 2022 citizen initiative that also expanded early voting, municipalities with populations of 5,000 or more have the option to start processing absentee ballots early but don't have to. Results would not be reported until after polls closed, the same as in previous years.

Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini, a Republican, said he is disappointed by Buffa’s decision, saying it could hold up unofficial results on election night. He said people in Michigan and across the country will be looking to their county for results in races that are “razor thin.”

Macomb County is part of suburban Detroit and is considered important to winning statewide elections. It also includes part of Michigan’s 10th Congressional District, where voters will settle a competitive rematch between incumbent John James, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Carl Marlinga.

Warren, its most populous city, is a Democratic stronghold within a county that has trended Republican in recent years. Trump won Macomb County handily in 2016 and 2020.

The deadline has passed for clerks to notify the Secretary of State's office if they will be preprocessing absentee ballots. Angela Benander, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, said 245 municipalities are taking advantage of the new law allowing early processing. Smaller towns get a one-day head start, rather than eight days.

“More notably – every one of the top 15 largest jurisdictions, except Warren, will preprocess,” Benander said in a written statement.

Michael Siegrist, clerk in Canton Township, said not processing mail ballots ahead of time in such a populated city will mean a longer wait to know winners in certain races. He added that the need for instant gratification on election night makes it harder for the public to wait and could open the door to misinformation.

“Nature abhors a vacuum, and people will fill that vacuum,” Siegrist said on a call with reporters.

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Associated Press writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta contributed to this report.