ALPENA — As of Monday morning, roughly one in five registered Northeast Michigan voters already had cast a ballot in the 2024 election, according to state data.

Early in-person voting, guaranteed by statewide voter referendum in 2022, opened Saturday across the state.

Across Alpena, Presque Isle, Montmorency, and Alcona counties, 2,082 voters had taken advantage of that option, according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Michigan Voting Dashboard.

Alpena and Alpena Township voters can vote in person early through Sunday at Alpena Township Hall, 4385 U.S.-23 N.

Call your local clerk or visit Michigan.gov/vote to find out where your early voting location is.

The state also allows no-reason absentee voting.

As of Monday morning, another 9,422 Northeast Michiganders took advantage of that option, meaning about 70% of absentee ballots requested had been returned, according to the dashboard. A week ago, only about half of requested absentee ballots had been returned.

Voting officials recommend absentee voters who have not yet put their ballot in the mail to instead deliver it in person to their local clerk’s office to guarantee the ballot reaches the clerk before Election Day. With the exception of overseas voters, ballots not received by Election Day will not count.

Early in-person and absentee voting thus far means Northeast Michigan has already recorded a roughly 20% voter turnout, with a week to go before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Across Northeast Michigan, Presque Isle County leads the way, with a 22% turnout, followed by Alpena County at 20%, Montmorency County at 19%, and Alcona County at 18%.

Check out the interactive graphic below showing the number of early in-person voters and the number of returned absentee ballots across Northeast Michigan. Viewing on mobile? Turn your device horizontally for the best viewing experience. Story continues below graphic.

Across the state, 263,634 voters took advantage of early voting over the weekend, and about 1.5 million absentee ballots had been returned, making for a 24% turnout.

In addition to the neck-and-neck presidential contest between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris in which Michigan is expected to be a decisive battleground state, Michigan voters will choose a new senator and voters across the state will choose representatives in Congress and state lawmakers.

In Northeast Michigan, voters will see several competitive races for everything from county commissioner to village president to school board trustee and more. As well, Northeast Michigan voters will decide a number of ballot proposals, including a proposed tax hike in Alpena County that officials warn is needed or the Alpena County Sheriff’s Office would face steep cuts.

Visit TinyURL.com/NortheastMichiganRaces to read all of The News’s stories on competitive races across the region.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that early in-person voting for Alpena and Alpena Township residents is available at Alpena Township Hall through Sunday. The end date was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.