Michigan voting dashboard aims to ‘promote understanding’

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Michigan launched a new voting dashboard Wednesday that shows current voting data by state, city and county.

Michigan.gov/votingdashboard will be updated daily to reflect all voting information available to the public to date. The dashboard is a tool that is meant to boost voter transparency and trust ahead of the November election.

"The dashboard is also a tool for election security. In addition to transparency and accessibility, the dashboard will promote understanding. Placing numbers in context of laws and procedures that govern our elections," said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. "Understanding is one of the most important tools to fighting misinformation. And we've all see the ways that data taken out of context can be used to distort the truth. That will escalate in the weeks ahead."

What to know about absentee, early voting ahead of Nov. 5 election

As of Wednesday afternoon, 781,534 absentee ballots have been cast, which is about 10.8% of active registered voters across the state, according to the dashboard.

Benson said this is the first phase of the dashboard. In time, it will be updated to add voter registration statistics and election results. However, it will not replace the immediate results listed on each of the state's 83 county clerks' websites immediately following polls closing on Nov. 5.

"One of the challenges in modern times that we face is that often times rhetoric has sewn distrust in election results, which is largely stemming from mis and disinformation from the 2020 election and elections since. This has created substantial divides in how election results and processes are viewed," said Canton Township Clerk, Michael Siegrist.