Detroit residents turn out for first day of early in-person voting in Michigan

The first day of early in-person voting kicked off Saturday in Michigan.

Through Nov. 1, you can beat the long lines by heading to an early voting site before Election Day.

The Northwest Activities Center in Detroit was buzzing Saturday morning with a party on the first day of early in-person voting.

"I decided to get it out of the way. I mean, why wait when you can go ahead and get it done on the very first day?" Moya Griffin, an early voter, said.

"I want to be one of the first to vote for some changes that we need, not only in the state, in the city of Detroit, but also in this country," Heather Howell, an early voter, said.

Community organizations, food trucks, bounce houses and a petting zoo were present. The fun family-friendly activities were an incentive for young voters.

"Oftentimes, that 18- to 40-year-old, that's our least likely voter. And so we've partnered with Civic, and Pogo and CitizenDetroit, and their charge is to get the young vote out, and that's how we ended up here," Janice Winfrey, Detroit city clerk, said.

City leaders say they are expecting a big turnout.

"We're hoping for 10,000 voters between all of our early vote centers. We're excited. People are excited, and they're coming out. And it looks like it looks like we're going to get there," Winfrey said.

City officials said 2,305 Detroiters cast ballots across the city's eight early voting centers on Saturday. The total surpassed the 1,897 ballots cast on the first day of early in-person voting for the 2024 election.

The District Two location was chosen for the celebration because it had the highest voter participation during the primary.

"If you want to see something differently, you got to do something differently. You got to come out and exercise your right to vote," Winfrey said.

Early voters say they're motivated by what's happening at home and around the country.

"There's a lot of different things going on right now, and so I felt that it was very important for me to cast my vote," Griffin said.

"Like everyone else, the cost of gas, the cost of food, the cost of healthcare, the cost of living in general is high. We don't make enough in this country as individuals working every day to afford all of these prices," Howell said.

The desire for change is driving people to get out and vote early.

"We want action from our president. We want action from our Congress members, state and federal. If you don't vote, you can't get anything changed, and you can't complain about it," Howell said.