Smooth night at the counting site

There weren't any major issues to report from Detroit's absentee ballot counting site at Huntington Place yesterday.

Driving the news: Over 1.1 million Michiganders voted with absentee ballots, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said.

• And more than 3,000 people took advantage of Michigan's same-day registration in order to cast votes on-site.

What they're saying: "We owe a debt of gratitude to the more than 1,600 township, city and county clerks of Michigan, as well as their staff and to the thousands of election workers," Benson told reporters late last night.

• Election workers at Huntington Place counted 43,000 absentee ballots yesterday.

The latest: A Republican poll challenger was removed from Huntington Place for "harassing and agitating" workers, according to Daniel Baxter, the former city election director who oversaw yesterday's counting process. He argued with poll inspectors before being carried out by security.

• Around 50 Democratic and Republican challengers were present at the counting site yesterday, with about 20 total challenges throughout the counting process, Baxter said.
• Flashback: Huntington Place, formerly TCF Center, became an inflection point for election conspirators following the 2020 election. Republican challengers claimed they were being shut out of the process.