Detroit is leading Michigan with 40% of absentee ballots returned, although predominantly Democratic areas such as Genesee County, Highland Park, Royal Oak Township, River Rouge and Lansing are reporting slightly lower percentages.

Analysis from VoteHub, a “nonpartisan and independent” election media organization, shows about 610,323 of 2,142,481 absentee ballots sent out have been returned across Michigan, which equates to a 28% return rate statewide.

But in Detroit, where 41,123 of 103,221 absentee ballots have been returned, that figure is 40%, the highest return rate in the state, according to a Monday X post from umichvoter, VoteHub’s communications director. Genesee County, boasting a significantly lower population than Detroit in Wayne County, reported 39% of absentee ballots returned.

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“Detroit is in a league of its own, having returned 40% of its 103,000+ absentee ballots,” umichvoter posted.

Detroit was at the center of claims of voter fraud in 2020 that were fueled in part by chaos during counts of mail ballots at the TCF Center, where authorities blocked some poll observers from witnessing the count in person.

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“I’m here only because they cheat, and they cheat in this state, especially in Philadelphia,” former President Donald Trump said last month, according to NBC News. “Philadelphia’s out of control. Detroit is out of control. Atlanta is out of control.”

Danielle Alvarez, senior Trump advisor, told the news site the Republican National Committee’s “unprecedented election integrity program has recruited over 200,000 volunteers to Protect the Vote” in 2024.

“These patriots have volunteered their time to bring transparency and accountability to our election process,” she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has focused heavily on Detroit, where she’s brought in celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, and Charlamagne tha God to court Black voters, a reality that has offended some including Pastor Lorenzo Sewell.

“We will not allow virtue signaling. We will not allow identity politics. Black men are not political infants,” Sewell told Fox & Friends. “We know exactly what’s happening with the Democratic Party. We know that they’ve exploited us for over six decades, and we are saying, just like Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘Let my people go.’”

Detroit officials are encouraging residents to vote early, either in person after Oct. 19, or by mailing in their absentee ballot by Oct. 15 to ensure it arrives by Election Day to be counted. The high returns in Detroit and other areas also likely reflect Democrats’ concerted efforts to turn out voters in traditional strongholds.

Beyond Detroit, other areas eclipsing the statewide 28% return rate include Flint at 39%, Highland Park at 40%, Royal Oak at 38%, River Rogue at 37%, Pontiac at 35%, Ecorse at 35%, Southfield at 33%, Lansing at 36%, Romulus at 34%, Redford at 31% and Benton Harbor at 30%, according to umichvoter.

“Cities/towns with higher black population in Michigan are returning absentee ballots faster than the rest of Michigan,” umichvoter posted to X on Monday.

Those figures have continued to increase since, with Ingram County Clerk Barb Byrum posting updated figures to X on that showed Lansing at more than 40% “as of the End of Day 10/14/24.”

While Detroit leads in both the number and percentage of absentee ballots returned, return rates for nearly all of the top 10 cities or towns by number of returned ballots are above 25%, including Grand Rapids at 26%, Lansing, Livonia at 30%, Canton at 28%, Clinton Township at 31%, Warren at 30%, Ann Arbor at 24%, Sterling Heights at 29%, and Southfield at 33%. Ann Arbor was the only municipality in the top 20 cities for numbers returned below 25%, according to VoteHub data.

The high absentee ballot numbers follow revised guidance from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on processing absentee ballots prompted by an RNC lawsuit over thousands of absentee ballots that were improperly tabulated during the Aug. 6 primary in Warren.

The RNC alleged those votes were counted “despite the complete absence of a statement by the clerk on the corresponding return envelope that the absent voter ballot is approved for tabulation as expressly required” under Michigan law.

Without that verification, the law states “the clerk shall reject the absent voter ballot and provide the elector with notice of the opportunity to cure the deficiency.”

“In response to our lawsuit, Secretary Benson has updated her guidance to require proof that signatures have been verified before ballots are counted,” according to a RNC statement.

About 1.8 million absentee ballots were cast in the 2022 midterms, while that figure was over 3 million in 2020.