Voter turnout was high for the Michigan primaries last week with some precincts running out of ballots. Local officials don’t think that will be a problem in November, no matter how many people head to the polls.
Michigan clerks use a formula from the federal government to decide how many ballots to print for primaries. In general elections each precinct has to have enough ballots for every registered voter, even though 100 percent turnout is unheard of.
Berrien County clerk Sharon Tyler says split tickets are why some precincts ran out of ballots or came close.
“What we believe took place because we had so many spoiled ballots was due to the crossover in party selection.”
Michigan primary ballots show all the parties, but a voter can only choose candidates in one.
Tyler says only one precinct, in Lincoln Township ran out of ballots. All voters still got to cast a ballot using an electronic voting machine.
She says turnout in Berrien County was actually typical for a primary. Officials in Cass and St. Joseph counties say their turnout was high, but neither had precincts that ran out of ballots, though some came close.