A sign directs Hancock voters to the polling place at Lakeview Manor Tuesday. Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette

HANCOCK — People around the Copper Country cast ballots Tuesday in August’s primary election, while the state also released numbers of early and absentee voters.

Nearly 6,000 voters in the four-county area had submitted ballots prior to Election Day.

Items on Tuesday’s ballot included primary races for U.S. Congress and the 109th State House district, contested county board races in Baraga and Houghton counties, and ambulance millages in Baraga and Ontonagon counties.

Although voters were still coming out Tuesday, Houghton County Clerk Kelly said the lack of pressing items on the ballot had led to lighter turnout.

“I think those that are wanting to vote are getting out, but there’s a lot that have said there’s nothing to vote on… it’s a primary, where our numbers are always lower,” she said. “I was hoping it was going to be a little bit different, but you can’t make them go to the polls.”

Tuesday’s election was the first U.S. election for Hancock resident Shelley Galliah. She and her husband, who emigrated from Canada, became American citizens this year after having had green cards for 10 years.

She hadn’t been driven by any particular issue, but wanted to exercise her rights. Galliah spent Monday night researching candidates to figure out who she would vote for.

“All Americans should vote,” she said Tuesday after visiting the polling station at Lakeview Manor. “It is both a right and a privilege, according to the American citizenship test, and every voice matters. It’s important to vote because it’s a democratic country, and you want to keep it that way.”

The U.S. system has some differences from Canada’s, Galliah said. Unlike the U.S., Canada doesn’t have primaries. She also noted the extra verification and security in the American election, where voters place the ballot into a secure sleeve and feed it into the machine themselves.

“The process is very hands-on here, which is a little different from Canada, where they just put your ballot in the box and hope for the best,” she said.

In Michigan, 1,638,830 voters had requested an absentee ballot for the primary. As of Monday, 970,041 Michigan voters had submitted their completed ballot to their clerk. Aside from those cast by military or overseas absentee voters, the ballots must be received by clerk’s offices or drop boxes by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count.

The Copper Country numbers as of Monday:

• Baraga County: 1,221 absentee ballots requested, 1,006 returned

• Houghton County: 4,604 absentee ballots requested, 3,667 returned

• Keweenaw County: 500 absentee ballots requested, 406 returned

• Ontonagon County: 1,178 absentee ballots requested, 850 returned

Kelly said voters had still been returning absentee ballots to their local clerks throughout Tuesday.

“People were being conscious about that, so that’s good, knowing today is the last day to get them back,” she said.

Tuesday had been a hectic day, but as of 4 p.m., there had been no problems reported at the polls, Kelly said.

A smaller number of voters cast ballots at an early voting site. The nine-day early voting period debuted this year after Michigan voters approved it in 2022.

Statewide, 73,531 people voted in-person during the early period, which ended Sunday.

Locally, there were 86 early in-person voters in Baraga County, 85 in Houghton County, 22 in Keweenaw County and 42 in Ontonagon County.

The Houghton County number was down from 102 in the February elections, Kelly said.