Swing States Michigan, Ohio Confirm Record Number Of Absentee Ballots For 2020 Election

State elections officials in key swing states Ohio and Michigan confirmed that they received a record number of absentee ballot requests -- eight weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

President Donald Trump won both states in 2016.

The Detroit Free Press confirmed that more than 2 million Michigan voters have already submitted absentee ballot applications for the general election. That’s the most requests for any election in state history.

Roughly 1.6 million absentee ballots were used in Michigan for the August primary election. The state predicts that more than 3 million absentee ballots will be used in the upcoming presidential election.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson credited the COVID-19 pandemic for the substantial uptick in requests for absentee ballots.

“Even in the midst of a global pandemic, Michigan’s citizens enthusiastically want to vote, and are taking advantage of the numerous safe, secure, and reliable options they have to do so this year,” Benson said.

However, the reliability of mail-in voting was put into question after the August primary. Michigan faced several challenges in processing the influx of absentee ballots in the August primary. Nearly 9,000 absentee ballots were rejected in the primary due to mail delays that caused ballots to come in late or people forgetting to sign the ballot or other signature verification problems, Click On Detroit reports.

Clerks have urged state officials to allow more time to process ballots, but under the current law absentee ballots can’t be processed until 7 a.m. on Election Day.

Ohio has also experienced an increase of voters requesting absentee ballots.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose reported that within the last week more than 1 million requests for ballots have accumulated. That milestone was reached nearly one month faster than the 2016 election.

"While we're making sure voters will be able to safely vote in person, this incredible demand for absentee voting speaks to the confidence Ohioans have in the system," LaRose said in a statement. "It's strong. It's secure. And our county boards of elections are prepared."

Ohio’s voting system ran into some reliability issues during the state's April primary.

The Columbus Dispatch reported that more than 21,000 votes cast in Ohio’s April primary didn’t count because of mistakes, late mail delivery, and other problems related to absentee ballots. In a pandemic-delayed election that relied almost entirely on mail-in absentee voting, Ohio threw out one of every 100 absentee ballots.

At least 75% of all American voters will be eligible to receive a ballot in the mail for the 2020 election. If recent election trends hold and turnout increases, experts predict, roughly 80 million mail ballots will flood election offices this fall, The New York Times reports.