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Gov. Whitmer, Sen. Stabenow speak at Election Day canvass volunteer launch

November 3, 2020

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senator Debbie Stabenow, and Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber launch volunteer canvass in Lansing on Election Day

Michigan canvass volunteers kicked off Election Day with words from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Debbie Stabenow and AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber at a Get Out the Vote canvass launch Tuesday morning at the Michigan AFL-CIO in Lansing.

"It's a beautiful day, and people are voting right now and they're in a good mood," Stabenow said. "They know that this is important. We're not seeing things happen. I think there's always a lot of talk, and what we expect today is to have an orderly, peaceful voting process."

Volunteers spread out across the lot to collect their packets and listen to the Democratic leaders express the importance of voting before beginning their final day of canvassing.

"No spin is going to decide this election," Whitmer said. "No premature declaration of winning is going to decide this election. No media outlet is going to decide this election. We are going to decide this election. When we vote we win. That's what this is all about."

In their speeches to the volunteers, the two touched on the process of voter counting and the possibility of a President Donald Trump pre-proclaimed victory.

"Here's what I will say about Donald Trump: He cannot proclaim himself the winner," Stabenow said. "I don't care what he says. He is not a king. You can't proclaim anything. ... But the truth is, it does not matter from here on out what he said. If people are all worried about it, they're worried about going out today. That's true. That's all they have to do is vote."

Despite the circumstances of this, Whitmer believes the polls should be under control.

"We have run elections since the beginning of this country in even tougher circumstances than we are now," Whitmer said. "We've kept people safe, and we've gotten every vote counted and that's exactly what we're going to do. I want to also remind that everyone of us has a right to vote is a critical foundation of our democracy, and so we need to respect that and efforts to intimidate folks as they go to the polls — that's a felony, that's been in the books for a long time — it's not worth it. Let's let the will of the people be heard today and respected and move forward as a nation."

Whitmer said in August that Michigan had 1.6 million people vote by absentee ballot, taking 40 hours to count. Twice as many people voted absentee for today's election, so it will likely take twice as long to count all of the ballots. Whitmer wants to continue regularly communicating the counting with the public and press.

Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope said in-person voting has been mild because the city issued 38,000 absentee ballots, about three and a half times as many as have ever been issued before.

"So far, everything is going smoothly," Swope said. "I wish we had more time ahead of it to process the absentee voter stuff so that we would be closer to that. I always like to have my results done before the 11 o'clock news. ... We're doing what we can, and we'll get through this."

According to Swope, as of Tuesday morning, 4,000 Lansing absentee ballots have not been turned in.

Those who have yet to submit their ballots can return them to their city clerk's office or local ballot dropbox. Polls close at 8 p.m.

"I'm ready for a United States where the president doesn't make news every two minutes because of his Twitter feed," Whitmer said. "I'm ready for a president who works for every American, not just those who agree with him. I'm ready for a president who has empathy, who has intelligence, who has some impulse control ... So, that's what this is all about. Every one of us is on this ballot. So, let's dig deep. Let's run through this tape together and let's win."

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