Deadline to register to vote online or by mail in Michigan is Monday

OAK PARK, Mich. - While candidates have been running for election since early 2019, many of the voting formalities that residents must follow if they want to cast their ballot have yet to pass. 

But with just over two weeks left until Nov. 3, many key dates are coming up Michigan voters will want to pay attention to. Monday is one of those key dates.

Oct. 19 is the final day that voters can register to vote online or by mail. In order to allow for a long enough time to collect all the voter registration applications that are mailed, the state asks that any envelopes be postmarked with today's date. Any later and it won't be accepted and voters will have to register to vote a different way.

If it feels like more people are paying attention to election 2020, it's probably because they are. Secretary of states around the country are anticipating some of the highest voting rates ever - certainly in the case of absentee and mail-in votes. 

"Close to about 3 million people - just 2.9 million have already requested to vote early or get their ballots," said Secretary Joceyln Benson. "Of those, 1.2 million have voted and that's really extraordinary."

Benson estimated that 1.2 million figure is about a quarter of the total vote count that arrived in 2016. 

However, with so much more energy this voting remotely this cycle, many election officials worry about a higher rate of votes being discarded for not being filled out correctly.

If you've got questions about how to register to vote or aren't sure where your polling place is, check out FOX 2's November Election Guide here.