What to know when voting on partisan races ahead of Michigan's primary election

With Detroiters heading to the polls on Tuesday, one of the most important things to understand is how to fill out the partisan section of the ballot correctly.

Right at the top, the instructions say: "Vote only 1 party section." That means you can choose the Democratic side or the Republican side, but you cannot cross over and vote for candidates in both party sections.

If you do, your votes in those partisan races won't count.

As of Monday morning, 4,563 Detroiters had voted early in person, and more than 50,000 absentee ballots had been received. But City Clerk Janice Winfrey says one group remains particularly hard to reach.

"The least likely voter is the 18- to 40-year-old. It's an unfortunate truth, and it's a problem nationally with that demographic," said Winfrey.

The city is working with two organizations to try to change that, including using social media influencers and a competition between city council districts to encourage participation.

For some voters, showing up also means paying attention to more than the biggest races.

"It's not just about like the Senate race that everyone's paying attention to, but some of the down-ballot measures, like the different proposals on the ballot, or some of the smaller legislative offices that you might not think about as much," said voter Mackenzie Francisco.

"Voters have to do their research, not be concerned so much with the campaign rhetoric, because that takes and distracts us from what's really important," said voter Brenda Goss Andrews.

Polls open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Anyone in line by 8 p.m. can still cast a ballot.