⁍ Problems with getting absentee mail ballots in Michigan raised fresh questions about how prepared the country will be to handle an expected flood of mail-in absentee ballot requests for November’s presidential, congressional and state general elections.

---

⁍ Most states have moved to expand access to mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic to avoid spreading infection with in-person voting.

---

⁍ But they face myriad budget and logistical issues, as well as attacks from President Donald Trump who claims, without evidence, that absentee voting is prone to fraud.

---

– Michigan is one of five states holding primary elections on Tuesday, and while turnout is expected to be high, the process of voting was anything but smooth. As Reuters reports, many voters who requested absentee ballots never got them. “I’m angry. I’m disappointed,” says 63-year-old retired school teacher Michele Small, who had planned to vote by mail for the first time because of a stroke she suffered. “But I still had to come out and vote.” More than 2 million absentee ballots were requested in the state, and more than 1.5 million were returned by Tuesday afternoon, according to the Secretary of State’s office. That’s more than double the 1.27 million absentee ballots returned in the 2016 presidential election, which typically has higher turnout. The other four states voting on Tuesday are Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Ohio.