Big weekend for the Midterm Election in Michigan

Just 11 days to go now, and a big weekend of campaigning is in store for Southeast Michigan. Fox 2's Amy Lang is live in Detroit at the Department of Elections with a look at what we can expect as we head towards the finishing run here. Amy. Well, Rob, a big weekend of campaigning, a big weekend of voting, right? So there's just over 7 million registered active voters in the state of Michigan, and just under a million have voted so far, voting absentee. absentee so we've been here at the department of elections as people have been coming by and dropping off their ballots this is you know one of close to 40 ballot boxes if you will and you can just slide your uh absentee ballot in there don't put it in the mail you want to make sure you drop it off at one of these boxes uh take a listen i got my voter sticker so excited to vote It's so imperative right now. I did vote absentee. It was my very first time voting absentee. So I like the system. Everything was very smooth. I have my absentee ballot today that I'm turning in. I'm just ready. I'm ready for it to be over with. I am ready for a change in the state of Michigan. So I'm just, I made sure I had to come down here and drop it off today because I didn't turn it back in in the mail in time. And so I just want people to know that if you have not mailed it already it would not be a good idea to mail it. Come and put it in one of the boxes. You turned in your absentee ballot. Yes. How are you feeling about it? Very good. Yeah this is really convenient so I thought I was gonna have to find a parking place you know go in so this is great yeah it's worked out good. We need to really come out and do your civic duty and vote. And starting tomorrow you can come out and do your civic duty. The start of early voting is Saturday and here in Detroit that means a big block party at the Northwest Activity Center. We went inside the Department of Elections where they were setting up today getting everything in order so people can come in and start early voting. Tomorrow is a big block party. It's a celebration of early voting. First day of early voting. Voting, voting, voting. That's the order of the day tomorrow. Come on November 3rd. And that, of course, is the clerk, Janice Winfrey. She even picked up some ballots from absentee voters out here. The big block party, not the only thing happening. Big rallies this weekend. In fact, we have President Barack Obama coming to Detroit to stump for Abdul Sayed and Jocelyn Benson. That is tomorrow, Saturday, here in the city of Detroit. And then on Sunday, President Donald Trump will be in St. Clair County, and he'll be trying to rally the base and get out the vote for Mike Rogers and John James. So a lot happening here. And again, the start of early voting is Saturday. That will go through next Sunday. And then the big day, November 3rd. We're almost there. For now, live downtown or midtown, I'm Amy Lang, back to you. Thank you, Amy. Republican gubernatorial candidate John James campaigning across Metro Detroit today. He stopped in Livonia for a manufacturing event focused on Michigan jobs and economic growth. Michigan is 42nd out of 50 in infrastructure, 43rd out of 50 in economy, 45 out of 50 in education. We are 46th out of 50 overall, which means that there are 45 states that are doing better than Michigan. 90% of the country doing better than Michigan. And we all have the same president. We all have the same country. We all have the same capital city. So what's different? What's different is you've had the same party in power for eight years. Eight years and nothing has changed. In fact, it's gotten worse. After that visit, James then headed to Novi to thank campaign volunteers. He was joined by Michigan State Representative Anthony Forlini. Meantime, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson was in Grand Rapids yesterday kicking off her statewide driving down cost bus tour. Benson and her running mate, Winnie Brinks, will campaign with other Michigan Democrats ahead of the November 3rd election. A million people have already voted in this general election, but there's still a lot of votes left to earn, and that's what we're doing. That's what this tour is about, talking to everyone, leaving no stone unturned, making every phone call, having all the conversations. Today, Benson is visiting Holland, Muskegon, St. John's, and Flint. Well, University of Michigan students are heading to the polls as early voting gets underway in Ann Arbor. Students voted yesterday at an on-campus voting hub designed to make it easier for younger voters to take part in the election. The U.S. Senate race is heating up, as you know, with a recent poll that shows Democrat Abdul Al-Sayed is leading Republican Mike Rogers by two points. Candidates also faced off in a televised debate in Southfield on Wednesday. The stakes are high for the Senate race as Republicans are trying to maintain control over that big chamber. The Senate and Democrats are hoping to see their party in the majority after Election Day. While the Detroit Pistons are teaming up with the nonpartisan Detroit Votes effort to encourage people to get out and vote, five digital billboards you see here are now up and running around the city featuring Pistons players. The campaign aims to get Detroiters motivated and make sure they have the information they need to vote.