County clerks around Southwest Michigan are preparing to offer early voting heading into the August 6 election.

Van Buren County Clerk Suzie Roehm tells us all local governments in Van Buren County have opted to partner with the county clerk to hold early voting, so there will be one location for all voters.

“We established one centrally geographical site for the early voting site, and that is located on County Road 681 in Hartford, which is by the county fairgrounds,” Roehm said.

Those who want to vote early can go to the Human Services West Building in Hartford starting next Saturday, July 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through August 4. However, the early voting hours on Wednesday, July 31 will be noon to 8 p.m.

The early voting is the result of a 2022 state ballot proposal, and this will only be the second time it’s been held. Roehm says the first time went smoothly, although it was slow.

“It was a lower turnout than we hoped for, but it was basically what we expected. We had 225 voters turn out countywide, and we had voters from every jurisdiction except for one.”

With more time, Roehm thinks more voters will stop by for early, in-person voting once they become aware of it. It works the same as showing up on Election Day, so she says everyone should bring their ID. The tabulators will be suspended each evening so the early voting votes won’t actually be counted until Election Day, when all the other votes are counted.

Meanwhile, in Berrien County, early voting will also be offered July 27 through August 4 at two locations, one for North County and one for South County. It’s a little more complicated for voters, though.

You can learn more about Berrien County’s early voting plans right here.