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Cass County shares how to avoid spoiled ballots

Whether voting early or on the day of the August 6 primary, you can be prepared. (Courtesy Cass County)

With the August primary election just over a month away, Cass County Clerk/Register Monica McMichael wants to remind voters of proper procedure for voting in a primary.​

As with typical primary elections, voters are only permitted to cast votes for candidates in one party. In Cass County, there will be two parties listed on the ballot: Republican Party and Democratic Party. If a ballot is split (or contains votes in more than one political party), the ballot will be rejected.​

“In August, we have more spoiled ballots than any other election,” McMichael said. “The last thing we want is for someone’s vote to not count.”​

When a ballot is spoiled, the voting tabulator rejects it, and the voter may get a new ballot and vote again so their vote will count. However, when voters submit absentee ballots that are spoiled, the voter does not have an opportunity to vote again. For this reason, McMichael encourages those not able to go to the polls on Election Day to take advantage of early in-person voting.​

“That way if you make a mistake, you can fix it,” McMichael said.​

Early in-person voting is a result of Proposal 2, an effort to expand access to voting passed by Michigan voters in November 2022.

The first election that offered early in-person voting in Cass County was the presidential primary election in February. Less than 3% of the total votes cast in the presidential primary election were cast during early voting — just 0.7% of the total registered voters. However, McMichael hopes to see a higher turnout at early voting in August.​

Those wishing to vote early in person may do so from 8 a.m-4 p.m. Saturday, July 27 through Sunday, August 4, at the Cass County Road Commission, 340 N. O’Keefe St., Cassopolis. ​

Any registered voter in any Cass County precinct may vote at the Road Commission during early voting. This window coincides with the Cass County Fair, which will occur next door to the Road Commission from Sunday, July 28-Saturday, August 3. ​

Early in-person voting for the November General Election will be available from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3. ​

To find the most recent list of candidates and proposals in upcoming elections, visit https://casscountymi.org/159/Election-Information.