OSCEOLA COUNTY — Over 15,000 ballots were rejected in Michigan for the 2020 Presidential election, including some in Osceola County, for reasons ranging from the person being deceased to a ballot arriving late.
Clerks in Osceola County rejected a total of 15 ballots, according to a news release from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Reasons for rejection include: No signature; ballot was late; voter moved; and voter died.
Hersey Township made up for most of the rejected ballots — four in total. Two ballots were rejected for ballots arriving late, one was rejected because the voter moved, and one was rejected because the voter died.
In Cedar Township, only three ballots were rejected — all three because the voter died.
Other rejections across the county included:
• Two in the city of Evart and Lincoln Township.
• One in each Evart, LeRoy, Richmond, and Rose Lake townships.
According to Benson, 15,300 of 3.3 million absentee ballots were rejected across the state, compared to 10,600 in the August primary election.
From August to November, the rate of ballot rejections due to signature issues fell from 0.14% to 0.1% and the number of ballots arriving after the 8 p.m. deadline also dropped from 6,400 ballots to just 3,300 by November.
During the November election in Osceola County, two ballots were rejected for signature issues while one was rejected for arriving after deadline.
“I am extremely proud of the 1,600 clerks across the state who embraced the record setting turnout including more than double the number of absentee ballots ever cast in a Michigan election and vigilantly ensured that all valid ballots were counted,” Benson said.
“It is also gratifying that our voter education efforts, alongside those of countless other nonpartisan organizations, in addition to the installation of secure ballot drop boxes across the state, combined to dramatically reduce the rate of voter disenfranchisement due to late submission and signature errors.”
