Early voting in Michigan got off to a rocky start on Saturday as a technological issue hampered the performance of electronic pollbooks, causing disruption in the voting process. Michiganians were able to cast their ballots into tabulators at voting sites across the state for the upcoming Aug. 6 primary.

According to Angela Benander, spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's Office, a "server issue" impacted the functioning of electronic pollbooks on Saturday morning. These pollbooks are responsible for tracking voters and ballots in specific jurisdictions.

However, officials were well-prepared for any technology or connectivity problems that could arise during early voting. The early voting process was equipped with a secure offline backup procedure, allowing voting to proceed even if the technology was temporarily unavailable. Fortunately, the backup process worked effectively, ensuring that all voters were able to cast their ballots and that their votes would be recorded and accounted for.

One township, Canton Township, had to resort to using paper to track voting from around 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. before the technology was restored. The City of Detroit's Director of Elections, Daniel Baxter, did not provide any immediate comment on the issue. However, Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey assured that the glitch did not impede their operations as they were experienced in handling such situations.

Saturday marked the beginning of nine days of early in-person voting in Michigan. To encourage participation, the Detroit Department of Elections organized a block party outside their premises, offering free food and entertainment on West Grand Boulevard. The block party aimed to engage residents from the neighborhood and motivate them to cast their votes early. Similar events were also planned for other neighborhoods with early voting sites in Detroit.

Residents like Vickie McClain, who had already cast her absentee ballot, expressed excitement that others could still register to vote. McClain, a 60-year-old Detroiter, emphasized the importance of voting and expressed concern about choosing a candidate who would address issues such as raising the minimum wage and creating more job opportunities.

The technological issue also affected other early voting sites in Detroit, such as the Northwest Activities Center and Palmer Park Community Center, where residents seemed scarce. At the Royal Oak Senior Community Center, only 31 people had cast their votes by 1 p.m., which fell short of expectations. Due to the computer system malfunction, poll workers had to assist residents in manually casting their votes. The staff had to go to City Hall to ensure voter registrations and absence of absentee ballots before printing and entering ballots into the computer system by hand. Despite the inconvenience, the process did not significantly slow down the voting process.

Michigan lawmakers had previously approved bills to enable early voting in the state, with at least nine days allocated for this purpose. The primary early voting period began on Saturday and will continue until August 4th.

Despite the initial technological hiccup, Michiganians are encouraged to take advantage of the early voting period and cast their ballots to avoid potential rush and long lines on the primary election day.