Oakland Township will begin opening, verifying, and scanning absentee ballots nearly a week before the Aug. 4, primary election, Clerk Karen Reilly announced in a public notice posted July 17.
Seven election inspectors will staff three early processing sessions at the Township Boardroom, 4393 Collins Road, Rochester:
- Tuesday, July 28 — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Thursday, July 30 — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Monday, Aug. 3 — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
No vote totals will be released until polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. The notice states that early processing allows the township to handle absent voter ballots "in the same manner and under the same requirements" as on Election Day itself, without generating results early.
Early voting and Election Day
Oakland Township voters who prefer to cast ballots in person before Aug. 4 can use the early voting site at Rochester Hills Public Library, 500 Olde Towne Road, Rochester. Early in-person voting runs Saturday, July 25, through Sunday, Aug. 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to The Oakland Press.
On Election Day, polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The August primary includes races for U.S. Senate, governor, and U.S. House, among other offices.
What the law allows
The early tabulation is authorized under Michigan Public Act 195 of 2022, which permits communities with more than 5,000 residents to begin processing absentee ballots up to eight days before an election. Workers can open envelopes, verify signatures, and feed ballots through tabulators, according to the Michigan Bureau of Elections manual. The safeguard: tabulators are locked from printing or transmitting any results until 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Growing absentee volume
More than 60 percent of Michigan voters cast ballots by mail or at early voting sites in the November 2024 general election, according to a July 2025 Michigan Department of State report. Statewide, nearly 2 million absentee ballots had been requested for the August 2026 primary as of Wednesday, July 16, state data shows. Early processing helps clerks avoid the bottleneck of counting all mail ballots after polls close.
The full public notice is available at oaklandtwpmi.gov. The Clerk's Office is located at 4393 Collins Road, Rochester.
