Detroit election administrator: Absentee vote will decide next mayor

Changes to state law means 100,000 Detroit voters will receive absentee ballots ahead of the city election for the first time in history. It could mean a larger turnout.

City of Detroit dropbox outside of Butzel Family Recreation Center. Photo: Samuel Robinson

A Detroit elections administrator believes the city’s next mayor will be decided by absentee voters.

City voters on Nov. 4 will elect city clerk, city council, board of police commissioners, community advisory council and a new mayor to replace Mayor Mike Duggan, who isn’t running for reelection.

The primary election is set for Aug. 5.

For the first time, 100,000 absentee ballots will be mailed to Detroit voters beginning June 22 who are on the state’s permanent absentee ballot list.

There were about 70,000 voters who participated in the 2021 primary election, and more than 92,000 residents who cast votes during that year’s general election.

“That means we’re mailing out more absentee ballots than people who have voted in previous primary elections, which speaks to the fact that it may generate a larger turnout,” chief operations officer of the elections department, Daniel Baxter, told me Monday at the elections department on Grand Blvd. “Whether it’s a presidential, gubernatorial, mayoral or special election, the people on that list get a ballot, and that’s unprecedented.”