| MICHIGAN | 16 Electoral Votes |
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| Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Michigan Bureau of Elections) Total Resident Population, July 1, 2019 est. 9,986,857 Total Registration, Nov. 2020 Michigan has: 83 counties. Largest counties: Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Genessee. Largest cities: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Warren, Sterling Heights. Government
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State of Michigan Bureau of Elections MI Democratic
Party Detroit News  The Great Lakes State |
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Voters can apply for absentee ballots starting Aug. 20 (75 days to election) MI SOS: Absentee ballot request numbers. Voters can vote at the local clerk's office starting Sept. 24 (40 days to election). [PDF] In May 2020 Sec. of State Jocelyn Benson announced that in view of the pandemic the Bureau of Elections would send out applications to vote by mail to all 7.7 million registered voters for the November general election. This led to a high-profile Twitter exchange with President Trump which generated some headlines and even litigation. Benson pushed the legislature to make several needed improvements to Michigan elections (1, 2). |
Ballot Access In addition to the major and minor political parties qualified to appear on the November 2020 general election ballot, other presidential candidates wishing to appear on the ballot were required to submit a petition with a minimum of 30,000 signatures [PDF]. The Socialist Equality Party candidates filed a lawsuit challenging this requirement in view of the pandemic, but their action was not successful (+). |
Overview:
As the closest state in
2016, Michigan was a battleground from the outset.
The political terrain was different than in 2016 when
Trump eked out a very narrow win here. In 2018
Michiganders elected Democratic former Ingham County
prosecutor Gretchen Whitmer as governor and Democrats
picked up two U.S. House seats, CD-8 in Southeast
Michigan and CD-11 in outer Detroit. Democrats
were also encouraged by record turnout in the March 10,
2020 primary (+).
Gov. Whitmer and President Trump engaged in ongoing sniping at each other over pandemic response and other issues. Whitmer was subject of some vice presidential speculation. As in other states there was a stark contrast between the Trump campaign's active, in-person approach, emphasizing the ground game and events, and the Biden campaign's largely virtual effort. However in the closing months, the candidates and surrogates visited frequently. Ad spending was very lopsided in favor of Biden and allies. Biden-Harris won with a plurality of 154,188 votes (2.78 percentage points), carrying 11 counties to 72 for Trump. In the post-election period, Michigan was one of half a dozen states at the center of the Trump campaign's unsubstantiated charges of election fraud. Trump | Biden General Election Details BALLOT [PDF] POST-ELECTION |
| [State Primary: August 4, 2020] |
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| Voting Age Population 7,737,250. Number Registered 7,323,369. Number Voting 2,565,373. > |
| Democrats Biden 840,360 (52.93%), Sanders 576,926 (36.34%)...Total 1,587,679. details 147 Delegates: 82 District, 27 At-Large, 16 PLEO and 22 Unpledged. |
Republicans Trump 640,522 (93.72%), Weld 6,099 (0.89%), Sanford 4,258 (0.62%), Walsh 4,067 (0.60%), Uncomm. 28,485 (4.17%). Total: 683,431. |
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| 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 |
| Clinton 43.77% |
Clinton 51.69% |
Gore 51.28% |
Kerry 51.23% |
Obama 57.43% |
Obama 54.21% |
Trump 47.50% |
and
the details...
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| Voting
Eligible Population*:
7.423,233. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.7%. Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 11, 2016. |
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Overview:
Although the Republican ticket had not carried
the Michigan since Bush/Quayle did in 1988, the Trump
campaign saw an opening. In the final week the
campaign flooded the state with visits by the
principals and surrogates. Michigan proved to be a critical state for the Republican ticket, which eked out a victory with a plurality of 10,704 votes out of 4.8 million cast The margin of 0.23 percentage points was the closest of any state. Trump/Pence carried 75 counties to just eight for Clinton/Kaine. Looking at the Detroit area, Clinton's plurality in Wayne County was 290,451 votes, substantially off from the 382,032 cushion Obama amassed in 2012. On Nov. 30 Green Party nominee Jill Stein submitted a petition for recount. The recount was begun, but ended on Dec. 7 due to a court order. (1, 2) There were a lot of problems with voting in Detroit; a subsequent audit by the Michigan Bureau of Elections found "human error, not illegal activity, resulted in mismatches between the number of ballots and recorded voters." Further the Bureau reported "no evidence of pervasive voter fraud or that widespread voting equipment failure led to the imbalances (+)." General Election Visits Clinton | Trump BALLOT [PDF] See also: Edward-Isaac Dovere. "How Clinton lost Michigan--and blew the election." Politico, Dec. 14, 2016. |
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| Voting Eligible
Population*:
7,317,247. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 64.7%. Voter Registration Deadline: October 9, 2012. |
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2012 Overview Although the Republican ticket had not carried Michigan since Bush/Quayle defeated Dukakis/Bentsen in 1988, there were suggestions that Mitt Romney's ties to the state could put it in play. That scenario was not to be. The Obama/Biden ticket won Michigan with a plurality of 449,313 votes (9.50 percentage points), carrying 20 counties to 63 for Romney/Ryan. The three Detroit area counties (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb) produced 39.6% of the total votes in the presidential race (1,871,518 votes). Macomb (51.48% to 47.49%) and Oakland (53.56% to 45.20%) were relatively close, but in Wayne County Obama racked up a plurality of 382,032 votes (73.03% to 26.21%). Statewide 270,805 fewer votes were tallied in the presidential contest than in 2008 (a 5.4% decrease). General Election Details Obama | Romney BALLOT [PDF] |
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| Voting Eligible
Population*:
7,263,250. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 68.9%. Total Registration: 7,470,764. |
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2008
Overview In early October, as the financial crisis piled on top of Michigan's own "one-state recession," the McCain camp cut its campaign here and shifted most of its resources from the state. Obama went on to amass a plurality of 823,940 votes (16.47 percentage points), carrying 47 counties to 36 for McCain. The three Detroit area counties (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb) produced 39.4% of the total votes in the presidential race (1,968,610 votes). In those three counties Obama tallied a plurality of 572,234 votes. In Macomb County, of Reagan Democrat fame, Obama won 53.38% to 44.77% of the 419,216 votes cast. General Election Details Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader |
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| Voting Eligible
Population*:
7,263,024. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 66.6%. Total Registration: 7,164,047. |
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2004 Overview Bush made it close in Michigan, but Kerry prevailed in the end with a plurality of 165,437 votes (3.42 percentage points). Bush carried 68 counties to 15 for Kerry. The three Detroit area counties (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb) produced 39.5% of the total votes in the presidential race (1,909,115 votes). Kerry amassed a plurality of 342,294 votes in Wayne county and narrowly won in Oakland county, while Bush narrowly won in Macomb county. General Election Details Kerry/Allies | Bush/Cheney '04 |
| General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000 |
| Voting Eligible Population*:
7,070,702. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 59.9%. Total Registration: 6,859,332. ll |
Total
voters: 4,279,299 Notes:
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2000
Overview The battleground state of Michigan went to Gore by a plurality of 217,279 votes (5.13 percentage points). Bush carried 58 counties to 25 for Gore. Almost 40% of the total vote (39.8%) comes from the Detroit area (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties). Gore piled up a plurality of 307,393 votes in Wayne county and narrowly won in Oakland and Macomb. As expected, Bush did well in Western Michigan (Kent County/Grand Rapids and the surrounding counties). He underperformed in the city of Detroit, and would have had to have done better in Western Wayne county as well as in Oakland and Macomb to carry the state. A statewide school vouchers initiative, Proposal 1, was overwhelmingly defeated, 69.1% to 30.9%. |
| 1992 and 1996 General Elections |
1992
The VAP was 6,947,000 for a turnout (% of VAP) of 62.5%. |
1996
The VAP was 7,072,000 for a turnout (% of VAP) of 55.3%. |
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