DETROIT (WXYZ) — Millions of Michiganders are expected to turn out to the polls in less than two weeks to decide who will serve as Michigan's next governor.
Voters will also get the chance to decide the fate of countless school boards and which judges will serve on the state supreme court. While many voters say they know who they'd like to see in the governor's seat, fewer know who they'd like to be elected in smaller races.
"It’s great for us to have a voice," said William Carter who will be voting for the very first time this November.
Carter who is a film student at Wayne State University says he's most concerned about the state of education, wealth equality and climate change.
"I don’t have a great knowledge on a lot of the politicians. I have great knowledge on people like Gretchen Whitmer, Tudor Dixon and the senators because they get all this ad space," said Carter.
Carter says he's planning to vote in person to give himself more time to learn about each candidate.
"I have siblings that are like ages 2-15 and I really care about where they’re going in life," said Yasmen Abdullah who is also a student at Wayne State University.
Abdullah says reproductive rights will be top of mind for her when she submits her ballot in the coming weeks.
"It’s my plan to vote. The only thing is I don’t know much about it," said Abdullah. "I think the night before I’ll binge a bunch of videos and see what everyone has to say about candidates."
Abdullah is one of many young voters planning to cast their ballot in the upcoming election.
"The governor, the president, the mayor: It’s kind of what we all pay attention to," said Myles Hardy who says he plans to vote absentee this fall. "But as far as school board, who the next judge is, prosecutor... I feel like we all need to educate ourselves on it or the candidates need to go harder on campaigning."
Experts say when voters get to the portion of their ballot with more obscure races and less familiar names, like city comptroller, some decide not to cast a vote at all.
"There’s estimates that approximately 5-20% of voters basically stop voting when they hit the spot when they don’t know the candidates and that’s a pretty significant amount," said Wayne State Professor Brady Baybeck.
Baybeck is an associate professor of political science and studies county elections. He says when voters decide to forego making a choice at the end of the ballot, it's called ballot roll off.
"In many of these races there's traditionally very little competition," he started. " If there’s only one candidate on the ballot, it doesn’t really matter if they vote. Having said that, if it’s a competitive election, those local offices are the closest to the person."
Baybeck says that is changing as more races like school boards become more nationalized. He says in recent years, there's been a lot more money spent in those campaigns.
Baybeck says in order to make more informed decisions at the poll, voters will have to do some research before they get there. He recommends using non-partisan websites like Vote 411 which will allow voters to view a sample ballot for their district and learn some facts about candidates on the ballot. He says while the internet has made it easier to research some candidates, not everyone's stance is easily accessible on the web and disinformation has added another layer of murkiness.
"What’s been going on with social media and the disinformation really has changed things dramatically because places like Facebook have made it very easy to get information. The problem is it might be the wrong information," said Baybeck.
The WSU professor says he's hopeful with the rising popularity of absentee voting, Americans will have more opportunity to vote from home taking all the time needed to make an educated decision.
"Very few candidates who are serious candidates, don’t have their positions (posted) somewhere. So, I think it’s much easier today than it was but it’s still overwhelming to many voters," said Baybeck.
