Michiganders voters can vote early in-person for first time in presidential primaries starting this weekend
(CBS DETROIT) - For every city across the state of Michigan, it's the beginning of a new era for voting, and in Dearborn, it will be no different.
Starting Saturday, Feb. 17, Dearborn City Clerk George Darany says voters will have nine days to physically cast their ballots in person.
"We've never done it before, but the best guess is one-third of the voters will vote during those nine days of voting, one-third will vote using the absentee ballot, and the other third will vote on election day," Darany says.
He adds that part of the job of preparing for early in-person voting for the presidential primary on Feb. 27 is preparing ballots in two different languages.
"If they are struggling perhaps with the English language, they can use an Arabic ballot and use that to vote with," Darany says.
In Dearborn, where the majority of voters are Arab-American, some people need help with translation. That's why Darany, who's laying the groundwork for election training, says having the right crowd working the polls is essential.
"Right now, we have already fulfilled the requirements of people under 18, so we are looking for people 18 and over. And of course, if you speak the Arabic language because we have prided ourselves in having people that speak Arabic at every location, and if there was ever a language concern, we'll have that covered," Darany says.
Each city will have one or more locations dedicated to early in-person voting. In Dearborn, residents can cast their ballots early and in person at the Ford Performing Community Arts Center.
But as a friendly reminder, Darany says voting early does not mean early election results.
"Nobody will know the outcome of the votes until we start tabulating the votes at 8 p.m. on election day," Darany says.
Early in-person voting will be available statewide from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Feb. 17 through Feb. 25.
To find your local early in-person voting location, click here.