Early voting triples in Ottawa County as historic race begins

OTTAWA COUNTY— Ottawa County residents are taking full advantage of early voting opportunities in the presidential election.

On the first day of early voting for Nov. 5, residents nearly matched the total from all nine days of in-person early voting for mayor.

A state constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 2022 requires nine days of in-person early voting for all elections involving state or federal races.

In Ottawa County, all municipalities and the county itself have partnered to provide four central locations for early voting. The collaborative effort is meant to save money by sharing costs and personnel.

The first day of early voting, October 26, took place 2,761 votes — only 101 of the 2,862 votes cast in the nine days of early voting for the primaries.

In the first three days of early voting, Oct. 26-28, 9,024 votes were cast across the county, according to the Ottawa County Clerk’s Office. Early voting will be open until Sunday, November 3.

Each of the four polling places — Georgetown Township Hall, the MDHHS Building in Holland Township, Grand Haven Township Hall and Polkton Township Hall — saw an increase from August.

Georgetown Township continues to be the most used location with 2,914 votes cast so far. Holland Township follows closely behind with a total of 2,856 votes. Next is the city of Grand Haven with 1,941 votes, then the community of Polkton with 1,313 votes.

Absentee voting also saw a high turnout with a 69% return rate. starting October 28. Ottawa County issued 74,248 absentee ballots and 51,675 were returned on Monday.

Between returned absentee ballots and early in-person voting, 60,699 votes had been cast in Ottawa County as of Oct. 28. Total voter turnout in the August election was 83,143.

For more information on in-person early voting, visit the Ottawa County website, miottawa.org/elections.

— Cassidey Kavathas is a political and judicial reporter for The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @Cassieykava.