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Live updates from the polls

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Live updates from the polls

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The day has come. Tuesday, November 5th is Election Day in the US, and all eyes are on Michigan as a swing state in the presidential race. Meanwhile, Democrats are fighting to maintain a razor-thin majority in the state House of Representatives, other key representation roles locally and in D.C. are in play, and elections will decide leadership in education and justice.

Here are the latest updates from Michigan heading into Election Day 2024:

Damian Fredrick left Trenton City Hall with his wife and two daughters after casting their vote on Election Day.

Frederick, 50, of Trenton, said not only is it his “civic duty” to vote, but he also wants to show his daughters, ages 20 and 22, how important it is to vote.

“We have a first-time voter in the house,” Frederick said. “So I wanted her to feel comfortable and know how important it is.”

Fredrick said the three issues that concern him are inflation, immigration and security. He also said that the tension ahead of this year's election is higher than ever for him.

“People are just aggressive,” Frederick said. “I even read it online. Their speech, the way they talk about their candidates. It’s just very aggressive.”

Fredrick said he hopes to see results by Thursday and hopes “things are done right.”

“We have to have confidence in our electoral system,” he said. “And right now I think that’s what’s missing.”

-Eric Guzman

If Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris becomes president, it would be “monumental,” said 27-year-old Detroiter Lauryn Allen after casting her vote shortly after polls opened.

She waited in line at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit for more than half an hour, but it didn't matter. “It’s exciting because a line means people are voting,” she said.

“It's humbling because I have the chance and opportunity to have a voice, and my ancestors didn't have that at one time,” said Allen, who lives on the west side of Detroit and works as a researcher at Henry Ford Hospital.

As Allen watched Harris at rallies and on social media, he felt the presidential candidate was the right choice. She was inspired by Harris' passion.

A Harris win would mean a shift in the way black and brown girls see themselves and how men communicate with women, she said.

Allen expects the results will keep him up all night. In 2016 — the first presidential election in which she voted — she remembers the silence on her campus after Republican candidate Donald Trump won.

“But now that I'm back home and feeling so energized, happy and excited about the future, I think I'll be excited as it gets closer to midnight and the night is over,” she said.

– Nushrat Rahman and Darcie Moran

Shortly after 7 a.m., a line formed outside the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit's Schulze neighborhood as voters prepared to cast their ballots on Election Day. A DJ played Pharrell Williams' “Happy” to cheer up the crowd outside, while volunteers handed out political flyers to people.

“We're trying to get voters excited and get them to vote,” said Jacqueline Kapilango, DJ Asset, polling station volunteer and DJ.

– Nushrat Rahman and Darcie Moran

Polls are open today in Michigan from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Four counties in Michigan's Upper Peninsula observe Central Time, while the rest of the state observes Eastern Time.

If you wait in line until 8 p.m., you should stay in line and have the right to cast your vote.

About 25 voters were already lined up before the doors opened on Election Day at the Fitzgerald Recreation Center on Nine Mile Road in Warren — and the line quickly grew to more than 50.

Nathalia Damasceno, 30, a Latina, is voting for the first time since becoming a U.S. citizen in 2023. She said she doesn't particularly like the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump, or Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Lawrence Tech University student is frustrated with how Democrats have allowed inflation to spiral out of control and how housing prices have skyrocketed.

She said Trump appeared to be in trouble given his selection of nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court and the overturning of the Supreme Court's landmark abortion ruling in Roe v. Wade also doesn't seem like the best choice. She's also concerned that Trump supporters don't want to hear different viewpoints.

She doesn't feel represented by either candidate, but plans to vote for Kamala Harris.

Others in line planned to cast their votes differently.

Michael Griffin, 71, of Warren, and his wife, Shirley Griffin, 74, were among the voters who planned to vote for Trump.

The retirees both voted for Trump while living in Indiana in 2016 and after moving to Michigan in 2020.

Michael Griffin said he was “sick of all this crap, especially the border and inflation.”

Griffin said he's also not a fan of boys playing in girls' sports. Concerns about transgender students fueled GOP canvassing in the state.

But what really upsets him, he said, are illegal border crossings and the fact that so many people easily crossed the Mexican border into the United States.

He and his wife remain optimistic that Trump can win a second term in the White House.

“We talk about it all the time,” he said of the election.

“If he gets the turnout, he wins.”

— Susan Tompor, columnist, and Darcie Moran

Michigan's biggest election contests in 2024

The presidential race is looming across the country, but it is particularly close in Michigan, one of the seven key swing states this cycle. The polls in Michigan are so close that it's impossible to predict the outcome. And that's not the only hot competition.

Michigan's U.S. Senate race between Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers was a tough one, with the open seat considered a key prize for both parties.

There are also three extremely competitive congressional races. The 7thTh and 8Th Congressional districts near Lansing and Saginaw each have open seats. In the 10thTh The congressional district is seeing a rematch between incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. John James and Democrat Carl Marlinga, who lost the district by nearly half a percentage point last cycle.

This is breaking news and will be updated.

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