Dearborn Absentee Ballots Could Hit 9,000

The repeated messages to vote absentee from the Dearborn City Clerk's office appear to have had an effect: Clerk Kathy Buda said her office has issued around 9,200 absentee ballots.

"We had an 80 percent return rate before check-in today," Buda said. "We're hoping for 90 percent."

That would mean that 8,280 of Dearborn's registered voters cast an absentee ballot. If the percentage is higher, it could put the 2012 election around the highest Buda has ever seen.

In 2008, 8,575 of Dearborn's 42,206 voters cast an absentee ballot.

The clerk's office urged residents to vote early in this election due to the length of the ballot—in Wayne County, it's four pages, including six statewide proposals and five County Charter amendments.

On Monday at Dearborn City Hall, the Clerk's Office saw a steady stream of people turning in their absentee ballots. Some even asked if they could still apply for one. Unfortunately, the cutoff was Saturday.

Overall, Buda said she expects voter turnout to be around 70 percent of Dearborn's some-60,000 registered voters. She also expects that things will run smoothly on Tuesday.

Buda's office plans to put extra efforts in place to ensure that, including extra workers to deliver laptops used for polling to each precinct, as well as an increased number of voting booths and extra dividers, in case lines get unmanageably long.

Any Dearborn residents who have issues at the polls are asked to call the Dearborn City Clerk's office at 313-943-2031 or 313-943-2032.